Press Release for Meeting on 19th April 2007
On Thursday 19th April a representation from the Management Team of St Austell District Chamber of Commerce & Industry met with the Developers, SWRDA & Restormel in what turned out to be a positive meeting. We asked for more transparency & more information on a regular basis, preferably monthly or when anything important transpired & regular representation at Chamber Meetings, this was promised. We were given assurances that everything was progressing; the delay from the DTI was normal and part of the due process. McLean’s had put more money forward for work to be carried out that would only normally be done when the build had started; this was too save delays, which the Chamber welcomed. Major retailers were showing interest along with a restaurant and three exchanges had already been completed. No names will be released until everything was signed up, the Chamber appreciated that it was a big commitment to make to sign for 15 years plus the 2-year build. The cinema had now been concluded but would be left to trade until the very last minute & the demolition would take place along side the build. We also stated that we needed to see some infrastructures looked at before the build was completed, such as traffic management, parking & improved toilet facilities. The Chamber raised concerns about the flow of traffic & if there was enough parking once the development had been completed. Restormel promised to look at this issue to see if this had been looked into. The Chamber has campaigned for a long time to see toilets erected in Priory Car Park, this was being looked at. Park & Ride needs to be promoted more effectively with possibly a 4 hour parking limit at a cheap rate which meant shoppers did not have to rush back to avoid a ticket, this was to be looked at. The Chamber was fully backing the campaign for a pedestrian crossing in Truro Road and we need to continue to push this issue forward for a satisfactory result for the people & traders of St Austell. The Chairman witnessed a horrendous situation with six mothers with their children attempting to cross Truro Road with not one vehicle giving way; this is not on. We considered this to be a positive meeting and now expected to see some action. The only downturn was the gate crashing of our 12.00 meeting by the FAB Group with a petition, even though they had been offered a 4.00 slot. This meant that shop managers that had given ½ hr of their time for this meeting that had to be delayed by 20 minutes & the representatives had to go through without a break to make up the time. The Chamber is looking forward to seeing McAlpines on site in the near future and we are eagerly awaiting the announcements of the new stores committing themselves to our town in the coming weeks. We encourage the people of St Austell to fully support the town & it’s traders as we move into a bright new era.
For & on behalf of St Austell District Chamber of Commerce & Industry.