Spotlight on... Camborne, Pool and Redruth

Located near the dramatic north coast and with direct A30 access the Camborne, Pool and Redruth (CPR) area provides a viable option for business relocation with all of the lifestyle advantages that living near the coast can offer. Rich in diversity and heritage, C P R is the latest area to be featured in our "spotlight on." section which showcases different areas of Cornwall. The aim is to bring you news of regeneration projects both lifestyle and commercial and provide the latest on exciting new workspace developments.

Heartlands Project, Pool
The Heartlands Project is a community-led vision to transform the town of Pool, located between Redruth and Camborne in Cornwall, from a derelict urban area into a truly inspirational cultural landscape. It will celebrate local traditions of innovation and creativity.

In November 2007 the Heartlands Projects was awarded £22 million from the Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks programme towards the overall cost of £29million, with additional funding from Kerrier District Council and English Partnerships. The aim of the Living Landmarks programme is to create major new capital projects that transform, revitalise and regenerate communities.

The Heartlands Project aims to transform Pool by April 2010 into a living landmark. Heartlands is to be developed under three main areas, the Park, Robinsons Shaft and Pool Village:

• The Park: this will include an events arena, large public green spaces, water features, children's play areas, cycle ways and Diaspora Gardens.
• Robinsons Shaft: the Robinsons Shaft buildings will be transformed into an exhibition centre, which will help the site to become the gateway of the newly established World Heritage Site. Also included in the Robinsons Shaft Complex will be a community building, performance space, artist workshops, outdoor classrooms, cycle hire and café-bar and restaurant.
• The Village: there will be extensive improvements to the centre of Pool Village including village greens, Cornish gardens and a community events space.

Heartlands will be developed as a model for green technologies. Its operation will not add to the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and CO2 production will be minimised during the construction of Heartlands. Heartlands will act as an exemplar for sustainable living by using recycled materials in construction and using locally sourced materials, generating electricity from natural sources (wind turbines, photo voltaic panels), collecting rainwater, promoting walking and cycling amongst many other methods.

For more information on the Heartlands Project please visit www.theheartlandsproject.org.uk

Treleigh Industrial Estate, Redruth
Located on the northern outskirts of Redruth the development of Treleigh Industrial Estate extended upon the already existing Cadrew Industrial Estate accommodates a further 4 units and equalling 4,756 square metres of business space. An investment of £1.22 million was made by the South west RDA and the Objective One programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and completed over three phases. The Business space benefits from access to the A30, high specification units and an integrated cycle way through the estate.    

All of the units at the estate are now occupied and this has resulted in a concentration of manufacturing and high growth businesses in the area. Examples of which are Upton Packaging and Jet stream Sports cars both of which have relocated to Cornwall. 

Creative Industries Parc, Redruth
In contrast to the Industrial benefits of Treleigh the plans for the Creative Industries Parc demonstrate the diversity that exists within the CPR area.

The redevelopment of the former Redruth Grammar School site is now well into its second stage design process with consultations taking place between the architects and local planning authorities prior to submission of the planning application for the proposed £4 million rebuild.
 
Cornwall Arts Centre Trust, the social enterprise leading the scheme, has worked closely with the RDA and CPR Regeneration since the project was first put forward in 2002; the Trust bought the freehold of the site in 2005 and it now houses nearly 100 creative practitioners.  Businesses on site include jewellers, web designers, painters, contemporary furniture makers, picture framers and two theatre companies. 
 
The vision for the scheme is to provide a physical centre for the creative industries in Cornwall which could offer:

• workspaces and offices to a wide range of practitioners and businesses
• a home for some key sector-support organisations such as Creative Skills
• a variety of administrative support services
• meeting rooms and presentation spaces
• a great café and some gallery space

When completed by the end of 2010 it is expected that there will be more than 250 people based on site with a turnover of at least £20 million a year. Funding for the project is expected to come from Convergence ERDF, SWRDA and a range of other funding partners in the public and private sectors.
 
For more information on future plans please visit the website www.krowji.org.uk