St Austell Chamber

CONFERENCE CENTRE OPENS AT CHINA CLAY COUNTRY PARK

paul — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:59:58 +0000

Cornwall’s Business Community gathered together last week (March 17th) in support of the opening of a new conference venue in St. Austell.
The Wheal Martyn Conference Suite set within the historic Ruddle Valley and grounds of the China Clay Country Park is now officially open for business.

The total refurbishment of the old schoolroom building was achieved through a generous partnership with Imerys Minerals Ltd who contributed the majority of the funding in return for the use of the facility as a preferred venue for their in-company training courses and seminars throughout 2008/9.

Fiona Crump of Evolution Development, an independent trainer for IMERYS, has led the first trial training sessions at the new venue and has already posted her enthusiastic endorsement on the Network Cornwall website.
“The Wheal Martyn Conference suite is a large, bright airy room with plenty of space to run group exercises and has a small breakout room should you require one. Tea and coffee are ensuite and lunch can be arranged either buffet style in the room or down in the cafe. The staff are friendly and helpful and the surroundings are pretty and peaceful. I can thoroughly recommend this facility which is conveniently placed in the heart of Clay Country”.

Guest of Honour Thelma Sorensen, Chairman of both the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum and Cornwall Business Partnership was equally complimentary in her praise for the venue. “Through the course of my work I inevitably sit in a variety of rooms and venues for a myriad of reasons. What is very special about the Wheal Martyn Suite is its peace and tranquillity. I love the Water Wheel mural together with the historic ambience and have no hesitation in recommending the facilities there”.

Following the near sell out exhibition of her work at the Clay Gallery last year, popular local artist Lesley Heather was commissioned to create an iconic mural for the conference suite. She chose the eighteen foot water wheel preserved from the old Victorian clay works and still working. Mindful of the museum’s charity status, Lesley on completion of the work, decided to gift it in the behest of the Trustees. The mural of the water wheel measuring some 3(three)meters sq now adorns a wall within the conference suite and may well be the largest single commission of a new artwork on display in Cornwall.

Museum marketing manager Chris Carroll told the Cornish Guardian that the opening was all the more gratifying in gaining secured conference room bookings contributing much needed revenue for the future of the Museum and Heritage Centre and the preservation of its precious artefacts for the future enjoyment of all.

The afternoon ended with a guided tour of the Museum and grounds.

Press Release for Meeting on 19th April 2007

paul — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:10:33 +0000

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.

HRH PRINCE ANDREW OPENS BRUNEL PARK

paul — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:08:12 +0000

On Wednesday 7th February HRH Prince Andrew officially opened the Brunel Business Park which is part of the Urban Village. Three presenations took place by Stephen Bohane, Robert McGuffie and Phil Mason in front of HRH and about 30 invited guest’s.

NEW SHOP OPENS IN ST AUSTELL TOWN

rich — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:49:16 +0000

On Saturday 3rd of February at 9.30 am Paul Scott Chairman of St Austell District Chamber of Commerce and Industry officially opened the Lanna Thai Grocery Shop. This is a first for Cornwall and it’s opened right here in St Austell. This not your usual supermarket food but the genuine article direct from Thailand, Malaysia the Phillipines etc. If it’s the unusual you want pop along have a look. You can pick up recipes or advice on how best to cook the products. The shop is at the top of Trinity Street close to the entrance to Fore Street. Please support your Town!

Monthly Meeting

paul — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 11:50:16 +0000

Monday 8th January 6.00 White Hart

Management Team Meeting

paul — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:10:02 +0000

Monday 15th January 6.00pm White Hart

Home

rich — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:36:32 +0000

St Austell Town Centre Regeneration Masterplan
Client: South West Regional Development Agency, Restormel Borough
Council and David McLean Developments Ltd

We were appointed to develop a masterplan to facilitate the £40 million regeneration of St Austell town centre. Our proposed scheme responds to the challenging topography of the site with a stepped and layered series of buildings that complements St Austell’s hillside setting and its historic architecture.
The scheme has been designed to provide a welcoming and positive entrance to the town centre and will have strong pedestrian links to encourage movement through the town. The scheme includes:
two new squares surrounded by shops and restaurants. On top of these sit offices whilst the perimeter of the site provides space for a series of two bedroom residential blocks.
The Lower Square will have far-reaching views over the surrounding countryside whilst the Upper Square will reinforce the visual connections to the town by opening up views of the church tower.
a four-screen cinema and a community building serviced by a 500-space car park is also proposed. A substantial part of the roof will be made of sedum to reflect St Austell???s position amid rolling hills and its
proximity to the Eden Project. The roof is also a visual indication of the high level of sustainable design that is contained within the scheme.
Status: The scheme received outline planning permission in March 2003.

Management Team

rich — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:34:53 +0000

The Management Team assess the function of the Chamber as a whole and seeks to discuss in depth any broad issue affecting not just its members but commercial and industrial matters, generally. Their meetings precede the monthly meetings.
CHAIRMAN Paul Scott
SENIOR VICE CHAIRMAN Malcolm Harris
JUNIOR VICE CHAIRMAN Adam Gator
HONORARY TREASURER Kevin Allen
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Adrian Mutton
Sara Moriarty
Bob Evans
Rachel Holder
Linda Headington
Mandy Kellow
Kim Barker
Sally Foard
David Brown
Steve Double
Jeremy Harvey
Chris Carroll

White House

rich — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:16:14 +0000

CMR Leisure is proposing the restoration of The White House hotel on Pentewan Road. The proposal includes the creation of a spa with lodges amongst the trees on the edge of the extensive grounds. The parkland hotel will complement St. Austell town centre and provide up to 240 jobs.

Q. Where is the White House?
A. About one kilometre south of the double (McDonald’s) mini roundabout on the right hand side as you drive
towards Mevagissey.

Q. What is proposed?
A. The proposal includes the restoration and renovation of the main house and gardens (which have been deteriorating for over 50 years), with a fine dining room, an extension behind the main house for 56 bedrooms, 60 lodges to be located around the grounds, and a health and leisure spa with swimming pool, and brasserie restaurant.

Q. How many jobs would be created?
A. Up to 240 new jobs would be created, the great majority of these will be drawn from the local area.

Q. What standard of hotel is proposed?
A. The White House will be a premium 4 star hotel of a unique standard compared to any existing or proposed
hotel within walking distance of the centre of St. Austell.

Q. When would this happen?
A. We are in the process of preparing our planning application and hope to be able to start building in the
Autumn. The hotel would take 18 months to build.

Q. Would the hotel and spa be open to local people?
A. Yes, all of the facilities will be available to local residents.

Q. How much traffic would the proposal create?
A. We project a peak of 73 movements per hour in the morning and a maximum of 122 movements per hour in
the afternoon.

Q. What will I be able to see of the proposal from the road?
A. As now, glimpses of the restored house and other buildings will be visible from the road. There is significant
mature woodland on all sides of the property which provides good screening. This will be added to, with new planting, as part of the proposal.

St Austell College

rich — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:13:12 +0000

In August 2001 St Austell College merged with Cornwall College and became Cornwall College St Austell. The College has since invested heavily in technology and equipment, the most significant investment, however has without a doubt been the acquisition of John Keay House in 2002.
With two years of preparations, 2004 sees the beginning of Cornwall College St Austell’s reloction of its former five sites to a single site at John Keay House, as well as the building of a new Performing Arts Centre with a 300-seat theatre to house new Dance and Performing Arts studios.