ANGRY locals of a small village in Cornwall say the expansion of a posh holiday site nearby will dwarf the local community and leave it ‘overrun’ with tourists.
The Gwel an Mor holiday park of 150 lodges is nestled between woodland and rolling hills just above harbour village Portreath, between Redruth and Camborne.
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Locals in a small village in Cornwall fear it’s being overrun by touristsCredit: Neil Hope
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The Gwel an Mor holiday park of 150 lodges is nestled between woodland and rolling hills just above harbour village PortreathCredit: Neil Hope
Last year locals celebrated when a planning application to add 25 lodges to the site was eventually withdrawn by the owners after being met with more than 200 objections by residents and the local parish council.
But that hasn’t deterred owners of the Gwel an Mor, who are now facing opposition to its new planning applications.
Cove UK, a subsidiary of American-owned Cove Communities, is awaiting a decision on three more applications, and wants to be able to expand to cater for 1,700 guests in the future – although the population of Portreath is only 1,100.
Locals fear any further growth will bring with it serious problems and exacerbate issues the village is already struggling with.
Nina Schofield is the co-chairperson of the local group LoveportreathCAN, which tackles local and environmental issues in the village.
She said: “Enough is enough. The site is there and big enough, and the continued growth is causing a lot of feeling of unrest in the local community.
“We have a thriving tourist area but there is a limit to how much the town can cope with. We want to work with the owners, but it’s come to the point where the positives outweigh the negatives.
“I was at a council meeting where they said their intention is to more than double the size of the holiday capacities to 1,500, if not 1,700, which would make it bigger than the parish.
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The Gwel an Mor lodges perched on the hillsideCredit: Neil Hope
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The owners have put in planning permission to erect 25 new lodges, which would increase the capacity of the holiday site to 1,700 and dwarf the resident populationCredit: Neil Hope
“There’s lots of unrest around what that could mean.
“During the hot summer months, and I will say on a rainy day, it’s not so much a problem, but during the peak times, when the car parks are full and people park on the double yellow lines, we’ve had a couple of road accidents.
“It’s gridlock on the roads in the summer.
“We’ve got a huge water crisis here, we’re still on a hose pipe ban since last year, so the local people are unable to water their gardens – but Gwel an Mor are filling their hot tubs.
“More people also bring more rubbish, and the council can’t fund more collections from the bins, so it ends up overflowing and plastic going into the sea.”
Local garden nursery worker Scott Treloar, 60, said: “Gwel an Mor is expanding at an alarming rate.
“If they plan to have up to 1,700 people up there, and if there’s four people in a car on average, that means another 425 cars on the road and our area doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with that.
Twenty years ago you could walk through the village and you’d know everybody, but with this and the other new build sites, it’s changing the community
Scott Treloar, local
“The people visiting Gwel an Mor don’t know the local roads and aren’t used to our narrow country lanes.
“They come round the corners so quickly it’s just accidents waiting to happen.
“We have problems with sewage being released in this area – we can’t cope with more because there isn’t the infrastructure for that either.
“Then there’s the hospitals – the waiting lists are long, and the local doctors won’t cope with more people coming into the area.
“It’s a lot of people they’re talking about and will dwarf the local population.
“Twenty years ago you could walk through the village and you’d know everybody, but with this and the other new build sites, it’s changing the community.
“We need to protect our village, not have it overrun with tourists.”
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Local garden nursery worker Scott Treloar says local facilities can’t cope with the influx of more peopleCredit: Neil Hope
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Scott says they have problems with sewage being released in the areaCredit: Neil Hope
Nina says there’s a strong sense of community in the area and people are keen to maintain the balance between the benefits that the tourist trade brings and their local heritage.
She claims Gwel an Mor promised to deliver a presentation to the village to show what their growth plans would look like, but they still haven’t delivered on that promise
Nina adds: “These are ‘peace-meal’ applications, and Gwel an Mor has managed to grow so much because they apply for a small number of new lodges so nobody bats an eyelid, and then continue with more planning applications.”
Local resident John Wise, 85, bought a house next to the harbour in 1971 and has lived in Portreath permanently since 1991.
He said the influx of tourists caused dangerous road conditions.
“It’s dangerous where the cars park on the double yellow lines as cyclists come racing down the hill.
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Local resident John Wise says the influx of tourists causes dangerous road conditionsCredit: Neil Hope
“There’s enough accommodation already at Gwel an Mor, so I don’t think they need to build any more lodges. They’re not going to be used by local people.
“There’s already another development being built on the other side of the village, so we’re losing more and more green land for houses which aren’t affordable for local people.
“The main issue with more houses at Gwel an Mor and elsewhere is that we don’t have the infrastructure in our small village to cope with it.”
A proposal to rebuild and increase the size of the restaurant, gym and spa facilities – including indoor and outdoor swimming pools – is awaiting a decision.
Cove has also lodged two separate applications with Cornwall Council.
One is to build 10 lodges on the same site as the 25 it withdrew last year, and another to replace 10 one-bedroom lodges with nine larger three and four-bedroom lodges surrounding the site’s fishing lake, increasing occupancy from 20 to 60.
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Added traffic from the tourists makes it difficult to park for localsCredit: Neil Hope
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Local teenager Erin Corin-Allen says she doesn’t see how such a small village will cope with that many more peopleCredit: Neil Hope
The 10 new lodges would be built on land the 25 would have been built on, and which was previously ear-marked as a wild meadow.
The 100 acre site is next to an ancient woodland with public footpaths running through it, as well as a wildlife education centre.
It comprises of a mixture of five-star lodges privately owned as second homes and for holiday rentals.
Teenager Erin Corin-Allen, 18, works at the local bakery part-time.
She said: “Although it would be beneficial to local people to have access to a new spa and facilities like a fitness centre, for mental health reasons especially, Gwel an Mor should consider the good and bad elements of what they want to do.
“Portreath is a small village, there’s only 1,100 people, and I don’t know how it will cope with that many more people visiting.
Portreath is a small village, there’s only 1,100 people, and I don’t know how it will cope with that many more people visiting
Erin Corin-Allen, local
“But it’s more money for them, which is good for them, and that potentially could mean more money for the bakery, the local shop and cafes and things.
“It could be beneficial, but I don’t see how such a small village will cope with that many more people.”
Nights at the resort cost upwards of £188 per night, while lodges for sale start £175,000 for one bedroom.
While locals are critical of the plans to expand, Cove last week defended itself.
A spokesperson told the Falmouth Packet: “If you want to blame us for anything, blame us for wanting to boost local tourism and giving holidaymakers a quality experience in top-class accommodation.”
The statement continued: “Gwel an Mor have asked for planning permission from Cornwall Council to demolish 10 lodges and build nine modern ones in their place, as well as build an additional 10 lodges. A nice boost for tourism one would have thought.”
Cove added that it employs 110 local people and makes a “modest contribution” to the area.
“It is also worth mentioning that we had several meetings with the local council where we shared our plans and asked for their help in distributing funds to local charities and good causes,” the spokesperson added.
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Portreath is a small village – there’s only 1,100 peopleCredit: Neil Hope
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Residents say the lodges won’t be used by local peopleCredit: Neil Hope