Cornwall Monitoring Report Camborne Town Report

December 2017

Camborne Town Report 20171 Camborne Town Centre Survey

1.1 The annual survey of town centre uses was undertaken for Camborne in May 2017. A map and tables detailing the town centre uses including the health check data by street are appended to this report.

1.2 Results from the town centre surveys conducted over the last 6 years can be seen in Table 1 below. There was a net gain of one unit within the town centre to 234 despite one unit being lost to residential use as two units were gained from the subdivision of existing units.

Table 1 Camborne Town Centre Uses by Survey Year

Survey Year

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1a D1 D2 Vacant Other Total%

Vacancy

%Vacant

Cornwall2017 115 24 13 5 10 5 14 4 39 5 234 16.7 9.62016 114 27 14 5 12 5 14 4 33 5 233 14.2 9.42015 115 28 14 7 12 6 14 4 29 6 235 12.3 9.12014 110 34 16 7 12 5 13 4 30 4 235 12.8 8.42013 120 36 13 7 12 5 13 4 31 3 242 12.8 8.82012 120 29 11 6 10 - 13 3 29 4 225 12.9 8.7

1.3 Peacocks opened in Camborne along with Sands of Cornwall which now occupies one half of the vacant HSBC building after the bank left the town last year. There is permission for an adult gaming centre within the remaining half. Another funeral parlour opened along College Street (Camborne’s fourth) within the former Spar shop which had stood vacant and boarded up for the past 8 years. The former Plough Inn adjacent was also boarded up but has been trading as a Chinese restaurant since 2012.

Vacant former Spar shop & pub on College Street (2009) - both now occupied

1.4 Closures this year mainly affected independent retailers including those within the indoor market at the Camborne Centre and also International Tiles

closed down. The A2 class use reduced with a drop of 3 units. An accountancy office became residential, the Labour party closed its campaign office and the Conservative office relocated into a unit previously occupied by an estate agents.

1.5 Vacancy rates have been consistently high over the past six years – initially at around 12% but increasing by 2% last year and by the same again this year to 16.7% and is now 7.2% above the average for Cornwall when looking at all town centre uses. Camborne has the joint highest proportion of vacant units alongside Redruth. There are some long to medium term vacant units with 8 of the units being vacant for 4 years or more. The vacant units vary in size with a floor space ranging from between 15 and 808sqm. 15 of the 39 units became newly vacant this year.

1.6 Along with other town centres in Cornwall there has been very little change in the proportion of units within the Prime Shopping Area that are A1 retail, although the actual proportion of such uses is 53% for Camborne in line with the Cornish average of 53.5%. Convenience, Comparison and Service uses within the Town Centre

1.7 To measure the diversity of a town centre the A Class retail element is split into three main categories; convenience, comparison and service uses. The ‘health’ of town can be monitored by tracking the proportion of these sectors over time, and comparisons with other towns can then be made. This method therefore excludes the non-retail premises such as community and leisure facilities (D2), clinics and surgeries (D1) and B1a offices, hence reducing the number of units monitored. The results from the surveys conducted over the last 6 years can be seen in Table 2 below.

Table 2 Retail Sectors of Camborne Town Centre 2012-17

Sector2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Cornwall

Average 2017

National

Average 2017

No % No % No % No % No % No %

Convenience 20 9.4 19 8.7 16 7.6 17 8.1 18 8.6 17 8.0  8.2  9.4Comparison 77 36.2 81 37.2 80 37.7 79 38 77 36.7 78 36.6  39.4  39.0Service 85 39.9 85 39 84 39.6 84 40 81 38.6 78 36.6  40.8  38.3Vacant 29 13.6 31 14.2 30 14.2 29 14 33 15.7 39 18.3  10.7  12.1Miscellaneous 2 0.9 2 0.9 2 0.9 1 0.5 1 0.5 1 0.5  0.9  1.2Total 213 100 218 100 212 100 210 100 210 100 213 100 100 100

Source: CC Surveys: 2012- 2017 Experian GOAD National Average 2017

1.8 Convenience uses in Camborne have decreased by a unit over the last year with the closure of its greengrocers though remains in line with the Cornwall

average of 8.2%, itself having reduced from last year’s average of 8.5%. Comparison uses have conversely increased by a unit to 78 or 36.6%, remaining slightly below the Cornwall average by 2.8%. The number of service uses has also reduced and is now exactly equal to the comparison sector. The number of vacant units for Camborne has remained above average for the last 5 years and has crept up by another 6 units this year. At 18.3% and 7.7% above the average, Camborne is experiencing its highest proportion of vacant units since the annual surveys began.

1.9 Using the vacancy rates in Table 2, the graph below illustrates the changes to the vacancy rate over the last 7 years and compares it to the Cornwall average. It shows that the vacancy rate for Camborne has consistently been significantly higher than the Cornwall average for the past 6 years and has widened further in the last two years so that Camborne now has one of the highest vacancy rates of all towns in Cornwall.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 201702468

1012141618

% Vacant Units in Camborne Compared to the Cornwall Average

CamborneCornwall Average

Survey Year

% Vacant

Source: Experian GOAD 2011, CC Surveys: 2012- 2017

Retailer Representation

1.10 Camborne has six major multiples as identified by Experian GOAD with an Argos, two Boots the Chemist, W H Smiths, Car Phone Warehouse and a Superdrug. Dorothy Perkins closed its store in 2014 and Clintons closed in 2010. It gained a place and now ranks joint 6th along with Bodmin out of 16 of the Cornish towns in terms of the number of major multiples.

Supermarket Representation

1.11 Camborne has a town centre Aldi store (896sqm), Cost Cutter and an Iceland.

Edge of Centre

1.12 There is an existing Tesco store (1,924sqm) on the eastern edge of the town centre on Wesley Street.

Out of Town Centre

1.13 Sandwiched between Camborne to the east and Redruth to the west is the Camborne Retail Park, although actually in Pool, it functions as an out of town retail centre for the CPIR area. It includes a large B&Q, Halfords, Carpet Right and a Bensons for Beds store. In 2011, ETS was replaced by Pets at Home and the 99p Store (now Poundland) replaced the Comet store when the retailer went into administration at the end of 2012. In 2015, 4 new retail units were built on the remaining portion of the site facing the East Hill junction. Domino’s Pizza, Subway and Malcolm Barnecutt Bakery have opened leaving 1unit unoccupied.

1.14 At the northern end of Station Road, Pool, is the largest food store in the CPIR area; a Tesco Extra, selling a wide range of both convenience and comparison goods and includes an in-store café with a total net floor space of 6,500sq m. Adjacent is a B&M store (which replaced Homebase in 2015) and Pool Market which is the largest indoor market in west Cornwall. Behind the market in the formerly vacant unit is the Emmanuel Full Gospel International Cornwall Aid Centre. To the east along Agar Road is a Morrison’s store with a net floor space of 2,800sq m. On the site directly opposite is a Lidl store which opened in 2011. The permission allowed for a gross floor space of 1313 sq m, providing 80% convenience retail and 20% comparison goods.

1.15 Pool is also home to Cornwall College, the Innovation Centre and Carn Brea Leisure Centre. The area is undergoing extensive renovation with the development of the Heartlands Project and several major housing schemes.

1.16 The map below shows the retail distribution of the major supermarkets within Pool between Camborne and Redruth.

2 Significant Decisions made over the past year

2.1 In January of this year, planning application PA16/05496 was granted on vacant brownfield land at East Hill junction. The site also known as Trevenson Gateway has approval for a Travelodge, a Marston Pub and drive thru KFC and Costa. Farmfoods also acquired permission for the demolition of 2 homes along Trevenson Road and the construction of an A1 retail store and parking for 50 cars under PA16/09991. Farmfoods are a specialist frozen food retailer and this store will provide 583sqm of net convenience sales floor space.

2.2 In terms of housing provision, the CPR corridor has several housing schemes with permission which are plotted on Map 2. Since last year’s report, 2 new sites have gained permission. Outline permission PA15/01794 for 94 homes and a 60 bed care home was granted at appeal on land off Tregenna Lane. The second application forms one of two pilot Council driven house-building projects, known as the Contemporary Cornish Living scheme (CCL). The proposal is for 33 units and 3 self-build plots on land at Tolvaddon Energy Park, Tolvaddon under PA16/08453. The Council is investing in building attractive, high quality homes that people can afford in areas of high demand.  The proposed housing developments will be self-financing with the Council using the money raised from renting and selling the homes to pay back the money it borrows to undertake further developments. The other approved CCL site is in Bodmin.

3 Local Plan Retail Capacity Targets

3.1 The Local Plan retail floor space targets are shown in table 3 below. Their projected retail capacity for convenience and comparison goods indicates that there currently is sufficiently more retail floor space than required until sometime after 2024 when there will be a predicted shortfall in both of the sectors.

Table 3 Local Plan Retail Floor space Capacity Targets (sq m net)

CPR 2014 2019 2024 2030Convenience -880 -948 -188 642Comparison -7352 -5906 -3889 3348

3.2 These projections take into account the commitments in Pool and should they not come forward then the convenience capacity would rise to circa 900sq m net at 2024 and 1,800sq m net at 2030.

AppendixTable 1 Use Class by Street

Street A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1a D1 D2 Vacant Other Total

Trevenson Street  1 1

Cross Street 17 3 2 2 3 1 7 1 36

Basset Street 1 1

Basset Road 5 2 1 5 3 1 17

Church Lane 1 1

Hooper Lane 1 1

Chapel Street 3 3 3 2 2 13

Gurneys Mews 2 1 1 4

Wellington Road 1 1 2

College Street 2 1 3

Church Street 1 1 1 1 1 5

Commercial Street 13 9 1 3 3 1 8 1 39

Commercial Square 6 1 1 1 9

Trevithick Road 3 2 1 6

Trelowarren Street 58 4 5 2 2 9 2 82

Old Methodist Chapel 1 1

New Connexion St 1 1

Union Street 2 1 1 1 1 6

Rosewarne Road 1 1 2

Mitchell Lane 1 1

Wesley Street 1 1

Adelaide Street 1 1

Gurneys Lane 1 1

Total 115 24 13 5 10 5 14 4 39 5 234

Percentage 49.4 10.3 5.6 2.1 4.3 2.1 6.0 1.7 16.3 2.1 100

Table 2 Retail Sector by Street

Street Convenience

Comparison

Service

Vacant

Miscellaneous Total

Trevenson Street 1 1

Cross Street 2 12 11 7 32

Basset Street 1 1

Basset Road 2 7 1 10

Church Lane 1 1

Hooper Lane 1 1

Chapel Street 2 3 2 1 8

Gurneys Mews 1 1 1 3

Wellington Road 1 1 2

College Street 1 2 3

Church Street 1 1 1 3

Commercial Street 1 9 20 8 38

Commercial Square 1 4 4 1 10

Trevithick Road 3 1 4

Trelowarren Street 11 40 22 9 82

Old Methodist Chapel 1 1

New Connexion St 1 1

Union Street 1 1 3 1 6

Rosewarne Road 1 1 2

Mitchell Lane 1 1

Wesley Street 1 1

Adelaide Street 1 1

Gurneys Lane 1 1

Total 17 78 78 38 1 213

Percentage 8.0 36.6 36.6 18.3 0.5 100