A dormitory awakens

St Austell’s retail offering is playing a significant role in its regeneration

Visitors to Cornwall might well choose to pass a wet afternoon poking about the arty-crafty shops and alleyways of St Ives, Padstow, Falmouth or Penzance. But St Austell – although it is the largest town in the south-western English county, with a population of 22,000 – is unlikely to figure high on the tourist agenda. Its story is a classic UK tale of mining woe: for decades it prospered on the back of the local china clay pits, whose waste product left its mark on the landscape in the shape of the distinctive pointy silhouettes of the hills known as the Cornish Pyramids. “Everyone worked for the clay and these were well-paid jobs, so St Austell was a thriving town,” recalls the mayor, Brian Palmer. But growing mechanisation of the mines saw the loss of 1,800 jobs in 1990, followed later by more redundancies.

“It was the start of a slow, steady decline and the relegation of St Austell to the role of dormitory town,” adds Palmer. The aesthetic damage had already been done in the 1960s, however, when a section of the historic town centre was demolished to make way for some spectacularly unsympathetic rebuilds, short on facilities, parking and charm.

The outlook was not helped by the council’s decision, 30 years ago, to turn down retail chain Marks & Spencer’s request to open a store. M&S went to Truro instead and, over the years, so did increasing numbers of shoppers. The past couple of decades have been a tale of “prolonged dismay, frustration and disappointment”, according to Sam Weller, a longstanding local resident and sales director of The Cornwall a newly opened hotel on the outskirts of St Austell.

The town does, however, have significant attractions nearby. It is only two miles from a traditionally popular stretch of southern coastline, including the fishing port of Mevagissey, and on the doorstep of two of Cornwall’s most important and enduring visitor attractions – the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

These attractions, plus the strength of the UK property market as a whole and the fact that the local market was coming from a low base anyway, have helped to support house prices over the past decade or so. Ashley Potter of estate agency Liddicoat Sanderson Potter suggests that St Austell sits midway in the Cornish price league: cheaper than Truro and Falmouth but well above deprived towns such as Redruth and Camborne. He suggests that two-bedroom apartments in the town itself now cost £100,000-£175,000, while standard modern family homes are valued at about £200,000.

But the area is a mixed bag in price terms. A 1930s, detached, four-bedroom home “in the nicest part of town” is on the market for £400,000 but towards the coast a similar property with a good sea view and half an acre could fetch up to £700,000 in a village such as Duporth, Potter adds.

It is widely hoped that a diverse series of initiatives could help to turn round St Austell’s fortunes. Foremost is the completion of the much-heralded £75m shopping centre makeover, complete with a four-screen 3D cinema. White River Place is already 65 per cent occupied, with more retailers in the pipeline, though little so far to excite hardcore retail junkies.

The development has injected new life into the town. “Footfall around the centre has easily doubled and there’s a much better atmosphere here,” says Potter. Events such as a weekly market and the autumn’s torchlight carnival have also helped boost morale. Opinions are, however, divided as to what kind of shops St Austell needs. “Wadebridge needs to be our model – it’s full of quality, independent, quirky shops and it’s really thriving,” according to Palmer. Potter disagrees: “We need M&S or other nationwide brands, not quaint fudge shops.”

Another important, though controversial, part of St Austell’s regeneration jigsaw is the new eco-development of 5,500 homes planned for the clay working areas just outside the town. The government has announced an injection of £9m-£10m to get the scheme started and the Eden Project is one of three key players, along with developer Orascom and the French china claypit owner Imerys. The project includes plans to revitalise Par Docks, the unsightly departure point for clay exports, into a smart new marina.

One of the holiday homes at The Cornwall hotel

That is bound to benefit the area’s tourist image in the long term. Meanwhile, however, it has already been given a boost with the launch last month of The Cornwall, an upmarket 65-room hotel centred on an early Victorian manor house on a wooded 43-acre estate with 60 holiday homes. Weller speaks proudly of its 42 local employees, the interest from local food suppliers and the emphasis on Cornish-sourced building materials and labour throughout the project. The question is whether it is in the right place to pull in the trade it needs if it is to support those livelihoods.

Potter believes it does: “I think The Cornwall’s holiday homes will look increasingly attractive: the regeneration of the town is likely to boost interest from outside from now on,” he says. The town is well-positioned for visitors, in Cornish terms. London is less than four and a half hours away on the mainline rail link, or by road it is about 10 miles to the A30 and all points east. The quickest option is the hour-long flight to London and various regional hubs from Newquay airport, about 40 minutes’ drive away.

Even without St Austell in the equation (for better or worse), the combination of Eden, Heligan and local coastal draws such as Fowey, Mevagissey, the tall ships port of Charlestown and the pretty Roseland peninsula makes for a highly saleable location. So far, phase one of the holiday homes, comprising 22 two- and three-bedroom properties, has been completed and work on the remaining 38 is due to start when they have been sold. The inland location means prices are extremely competitive: unfurnished, from £320,000 for two bedrooms and about £350,000 for three bedrooms for freehold ownership.

Buyers looking for some income can designate certain weeks for their own use and hand their property over to the management company to rent out for the remainder of the year. Those prepared to limit themselves to six weeks’ use are guaranteed a 3 per cent yield, net of all costs, for two years.

For those who prefer a less managed environment, popular coastal spots include Gorran Haven (where a two-bedroom barn conversion is available for £175,000 through Liddicoat Sanderson Potter) and Mevagissey. The priciest enclave is around Carlyon Bay, especially Sea Road, where properties can reach the £1m mark. Weller highlights the village of Polgooth, a couple of miles inland, as “an attractive place with a thriving community”. But the smart money with an eye on St Austell’s future might well head for Par Docks.

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Details

Development
The Cornwall, tel: (0)1726874 545, www.thecornwall.com

Estate agency
Liddicoat Sanderson Potter, tel: (0)172 669 933, www.moveincornwall.co.uk