Planning Cornwall: Deciding the future of one of Cornwall’s oldest and most treasured businesses

One of Cornwall’s oldest restaurants will have to find new premises after a Cornwall Council planning committee decided its current building will be demolished – despite more than 11,000 people signing a petition to save it. The Waterside Meadery, which has been operating in Penzance Harbor since 1970, will have to move by June next year.

Its owner argued at a meeting of the council’s planning committee today (Tuesday, May 28) that the potential move to the town’s Wharfside shopping center would be “unfeasible” because of the costs. However, the meeting heard that an offer for a Town Deal grant, which would allow the meander to find new sites elsewhere in Penzance, looked “favourable”.

The proposal to demolish the wooded building, which is owned by Cornwall Council Harbours, would help meet an objective in the Penzance Harbor Management Plan to reduce congestion on the site and enable a more efficient working port. Councilors were told there was no suitable off-road location for HGVs to park and wait to deliver their goods, leading to traffic problems on the busy seafront road through Penzance.

Read more: Meadery to be demolished despite support from thousands

Read more: Meadery says its demolition is a ‘remarkably stupid decision’

A planning officer, who recommended councilors give conditional approval for the demolition, said that while the woodland was an undesignated heritage asset, it had been heavily altered over the years and its current use was not inherent to the building .

Emily Stephens, who runs the business which was started by her father Robin Smith, asked councillors: “What will the demolition of the forest actually achieve? Improving the functionality of public roads and opening the port to the public domain, just by reducing it probability of the trucks standing on the road, but without removing them. Unloading of HGVs, forklift movements, freight containers on quays – not a safe area for the public domain.

“Demolition of Waterside Meadery will result in the loss of a thriving 54-year-old family business which saw over 44,000 visits in 2023. I expect a few of those will be from Yorkshire, although 80% were indeed from Penzance area. .

“It is an iconic and unique business that plays its part in attracting people to the area. The demolition will result in the loss of nearly 30 full and part-time jobs and the loss of business for other local businesses, one of which alone is They are set to lose £50,000 a year Although it is true that there are thousands of sq. in the center of Wharfside, they are cost prohibitive for us. She added that the demolition would lead to the loss of “our community spirit”.

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Former Mayor of Penzance Dick Cliffe was next to address the meeting. He is a member of the Penzance Town Deal Board, which has allocated £2.8 million to improve Penzance Harbour.

He said the harbor is the reason Penzance exists. “There is nothing haphazard or obtuse about the plans to improve Penzance Harbour. In recent decades the port has been poorly managed, even neglected, resulting in today’s severely compromised port with limited quay space, dilapidated buildings, chronic congestion of HGVs and non-marine vehicles. commercial business”.

Mr Cliffe cited the port’s management plan, which said: “There were many missed opportunities for the port which would have had a huge impact on the port and the local economy.”

“Please don’t let this become another missed opportunity in Penzance Harbour,” he added.

Cornwall Councilor Cllr Jim McKenna said he referred it to the committee for the decision because of the level of public interest, which was “outstanding”, due to the potential negative impact on the local economy, traffic routing concerns along the promenade and Alexandra. Road, and because the restaurant is a non-designated heritage asset, with the last of Penzance’s clay storage pits sitting under the forest.

“It benefits our local economy by around £200,000 a year. Eight years left on the lease. The council gave 18 months’ notice before Christmas, so there is about a year left. Request for meadera for a city. The grant to help resettlement is at an advanced stage which should be clear one way or the other by the end of June,” he said.

Cllr McKenna added that it was an unusual case because of public interest, with more than 11,000 people signing an online petition for the core to remain in place. He asked for an adjournment until the end of June when a decision would be made on the resettlement grant, which he said looked favorable.

During a discussion about the plan, Cllr Loveday Jenkin said: “I’m sure we all have very fond memories of the forest, I know I do and I remember when it first opened. That building has been changed a lot. from what was there before so I don’t think there is any particular heritage value in keeping it.

“There is obviously a commercial reason, but if the tenant has been given notice to quit and that’s going to happen anyway, I’m not sure how much weight we can put on that commercial reason. I would like to think that the grant application will allow relocation because it is valued by many people in the area and further afield, I am not sure we have a planning reason to refuse.

The application to demolish the restaurant and resurface West Quay to create an off-road HGV waiting area was approved with eight councilors in favour, one against and one abstention.