Penwith's Rural Walking Retreat Project News, Heritage-led 12/12/2020 by Andrew
This one was a challenge, and every bit worth the hard work. Very soon getting a start on site, the completed building will provide for active wellbeing holidays, especially for groups of walkers visiting the wonderful Penwith landscape.
The Council fought against the proposal suggesting that the walkers’ accommodation was not well located. However, the Planning Appeal Inspector agreed with our application and permitted the development to go ahead.
We needed to overcome a number of issues during the preparation of the plans, including flood risk, landscape impact, and access. Our careful investigations, and our planned response to all the constraints paid off.
Reusing the site of an original livery business, while bringing back into use an abandoned historic stone building, the site also provides convenient walking routes to the footpath network, and a local bus service which the new use will help to support.
The landscape is highly protected and valued with equal status to England’s National Parks. It’s incredibly rich and scattered with cultural heritage. Many of the settlements date from the medieval period, and with rare places over 2000 years old including barrows, crofts, and quoits, and Chysauster Village, and numerous farmsteads that are still in use today.
Rough moorland meeting with the open sea provides for breath-taking elemental scenes, and with the lack of pollution and noise all combines to give welcomed relief from the chaotic pace of modern life. The landscape is also a wonderfully free resource for the local economy, and for local people to enjoy. Protecting this resource is of paramount importance. The professional custodians of the landscape agreed that our walkers’ retreat would enhance, adding value that supports the area rather than detracting.
I look forward to a visit here again, to see its progress in the near future.
