£35m community site to close most facilities

The project received £22m from the Big Lottery Fund

A community site in one of Cornwall's most impoverished areas is closing most of its facilities due to financial difficulties, bosses have announced.

Heartlands, at the centre of a former mining area in Pool, was opened in 2012 with more than £20m in lottery funding.

The Heartlands Trust charity, which employs about 40 people, said that it could not cover its operating costs with rising bills and falling income.

The cafe, soft play, conference centre and meeting rooms would be closed by the end of January and the park, gardens, shops and offices would remain open, it said.

The cafe, soft play, conference centre and meeting rooms are closing

The £35m visitor attraction at the Robinson's Shaft of the former South Crofty mine in Pool, received £22m from the Big Lottery Fund, the biggest grant it had given to a single project in England at the time.

Cornwall Council and the European Union also provided funding.

The trust and the council said in a statement: "Heartlands had never seen itself as a commercial operation but finance has always been precarious.

"Budget over-runs on the original build project meant vital units intended to provide rental streams were never built and intended developer contributions for playground maintenance were never received."

'Full support'

It said 360,000 visitors used the site every year and local schoolchildren had used the site to learn about social history and their local heritage.

There was no immediate information on how many staff would be affected by the closures but the statement said "full support" was being given to all staff involved.

The trust said that it would refund any deposits or tickets for future events that were cancelled.