The event was organised by Penwith Housing Association (PHA), part of Devon & Cornwall Housing group. Guests, including county and parish councillors and contractors, were welcomed by PHA Chair, Gail Hunt, and Chief Executive, Andy Moore who said “Rural affordable housing has a great place in the Big Society. There are some 18,000 on the housing register in Cornwall where house prices are high and mortgages are often more than local wages can afford, with jobs at risk.” He added that this was one of a number of schemes they had been able to carry out with the Cornwall Council over the past couple of years and described Mark Kaczmarek as a “champion of rural housing.”
Mark Kaczmarek, Cornwall councillor for housing and planning, spoke of the importance of the development at Trevallack Close: “Affordable homes are even more important in places like St Keverne where there is a strong need and wages are not sufficient for large mortgages.”
The scheme comprises of four three-bed and nine two-bed timber-framed homes built by the Galliford Try Partnerships. The total cost will amount to around £1.56million and they will be completed during November. People living in the area, those with parish connections or part of the community would have the opportunity to stay in the village.
Mark Kaczmarek spoke of the problems of the site with its steep gradient – and the bad weather last winter – and congratulated the builders on their achievement.
“I am delighted we have 13 high quality houses here. We are passionate about supplying schemes like this in Cornwall.” he added. Local Cornwall councillor Pam Lyne said they were keen to get young families here and she hoped all the new tenants would be happy.
Mr Kaczmarek had come to the site direct from the funeral service for Mr Mike Clayton, his admirable Cornwall Council colleague, so they were mourning his passing but celebrating his work with this development.
This was the second phase of the St Keverne development for which they had been supported with an £870,000 investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Cornwall Council contributed £32,500 subsidy for the scheme in return for nomination rights for local people and also agreed to sell the site to the Devon and Cornwall Housing group for £1 to support the development. There were many factors contributing to the higher than normal costs of re-development with several a direct result of the site’s topography. These included deeper than average foundations, retaining walls, excavation for new access road and Japanese knotweed removal.
Versha Koria, Homes and Communities Agency area manager, said: “I am pleased to see such great homes being delivered by our investment in St Keverne and know it can make a great difference to people’s lives locally. It’s impressive what we can deliver by working together with partners. The affordable homes are built to Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which means residents will benefit further from reduced fuel and water bills. I hope they will be very happy in their new homes.”
The building work was delayed by the insolvency of ROK in November 2010. However, a considerable amount of time has been made up due to the timber frame method of construction and Galliford Try Partnerships SW fast-tracking the site. Other partners involved in the project are: architects (Trewin Design Partnership); engineers, MBA (Michael Beardsall Associates, Truro); employers agents (Taylor Lewis Associates, Truro); timber frames, (Frame UK of Redruth).
