City's £170m development plans to 'remain flexible'

Bulldozers working to demolish the final part of the site

The final phase of demolition work has started on a £170m development, but bosses have said "financial viability is impossible" based on original plans.

The Pydar development is a major regeneration project in Truro, but work was delayed in the spring after gulls nested on the derelict building.

Cornwall Council's arms-length development company, Treveth, said rising costs and global financial conditions meant the development could take longer to complete than hoped.

It added original plans for shops, restaurants and university accommodation would have to "remain flexible" and the build could end up as "mainly housing".

Planning permission for the new quarter of Truro was granted in 2021

Planning permission to demolish the 1970's office buildings was originally granted in 2021.

Original plans included 300 houses with at least 100 built as affordable, a hotel, restaurants, and a facility and student accommodation for Falmouth University.

Bosses said rising costs and building changes brought in after the Grenfell Tower disaster meant the project needed an extra £10m from Cornwall Council.

Tim Mulholland said the scheme should take about five years to complete

Tim Mulholland, who is the managing director at Treveth, said: "Since the market slowed down and the Building Safety Act came in as a consequence of Grenfell [it] made financial viability impossible.

"We're still hopeful that all the uses we had in the original planning consent will apply.

"Once we start building it will take about five years and hopefully the market will come back.

"We're at the bottom of the market and things are going to improve and hopefully we'll be able to deliver the project as a single entity but it may have more emphasis on the accommodation element."

'Demand for housing'

Mr Mulholland told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We've still got a lot of interest from hotels, so we'll look at how we can incorporate the hotels in early. It's playing with where the market is now and what the demand is.

"Hopefully, once the market does come back, interest rates drop and viability is in a better place, other uses will come through.

"So what we're doing this time is making sure every part is as flexible as it can be.

"The important thing is to get it started – there's demand for housing. That's the crux of a new neighbourhood and bringing more people into the city centre. Nothing has changed there."