The main attractions of Talland Bay have always been the sea, beaches and coastal
path and the unspoilt environment and tranquillity of the bay.
Past, present and now proposed developments have eroded and threaten its special
quality - each successive development makes more development likely. In the
light of the multiple threats which now seem to endanger the bay as we all know
and love it we have started this new page - as we get more and better information
it will be added and developed - you can help us by letting us have information
you know and by letting us have your views and comments, which will be put on
this page for all to see.
Scroll down to see all this long page
Let
us know your views on these matters - we'll put them on this page - and let
us know if you know of any proposed developments we've not heard of yet - click here for email form
| Talland Bay's protected status | Talland Bay is in the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is part of the Heritage Coast. Together, these two designations should afford the area the highest level of protection - similar to that accorded to land in the National Parks. In practice, in recent years, it would seem that these designations have done nothing to protect it against inappropriate development | |
| Environmental Threats | Wind Turbines: Currently
(July 2011) a planning application to Cornwall Council (the planning authority)
to erect two wind turbines each 18 metres high (to the centre of the turbine
blades - so substantially higher overall) awaits determination. These wind
turbines are proposed to be erected on land at Porthallow Farm, which is
a short distance north of the sea/beaches and at the top of the hill behind
Talland Bay. The wind turbines are bound to be visually intrusive from many
points within the bay area (though the environmental assessment deposited
by the applicants maintains otherwise). In addition there may be noise nuisance
from the turbine blades and/or turbines/generators - due to the nature of
the land with steep slopes, valleys and hills, noise travels a surprisingly
long distance - examples are sheep can be heard bleating on the opposite
side of the bay, but this is a pleasant countryside sound so very acceptable
environmentally. Another example is music from discos held at Killigarth
Manor (John Fowler Holiday Parks), which similarly can be heard on the opposite
side of the bay - not so environmentally friendly! It appears that because of the rush to sustainable energy the Government expect there to be presumption that wind turbines should be approved. Indeed it has been said that the AONB and Heritage Coast status cannot be taken into account (but surely this can't be true, otherwise they are totally meaningless?) It is also said that implications for air traffic safety must be taken into account. Has the world gone mad? Has anyone noticed an airport or even landing strip within 10 miles? True the odd celeb does fly in by helicopter to the Talland Bay Hotel and the mysterious Cyprus based owner of "The Bay" has been said to have flown into his upmarket holiday village site by helicopter and the Air Ambulance does occasionally get called in when people fall off the cliffs. Anyway, if "air traffic requirements" are a higher level of planning protection than are the Heritage Coast and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designations and prevent the erection of these wind turbines which will loom over Talland Bay, then perhaps we should be thankful for small and bizarre mercies). Under guidelines issued to planning authorities by the Coalition Government, "sustainable energy" developments are being encouraged and it is believed that this development will probably be allowed. But you can make your views known to Cornwall Council and, who knows, perhaps it will make a difference. The application number is PA11/03925 - click here. (As at 14 July 2011, the Cornwall Council planners' website shows 2 in support of this development and 28 against) STOP PRESS: Planning permission for the proposed wind turbines on Porthallow Farm has been refused (15 August 2011) |
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| Light Pollution:
Cornwall Council has announced that it is seeking to reduce light pollution
of the night sky throughout the county and proposes to introduce street
lighting which does not cause light pollution to the night sky. Conditions
are also laid down for new developments which require on-site lighting to
be non-polluting. This has, for instance, applied to the holiday village
development "The Bay", though some individual owners either
don't seem to know this or have ignored the planning requirement and seem
to have installed bright and polluting lights. And it is not just new developments which can contribute to pollution of the traditionally dark night sky in the area: One of the worst offenders for many years has been the Tencreek Holiday Park - the sky over and around this major development is a sea of light at night in the season - not much prospect of star-gazing anywhere near there. Most recently, the new owners of The Talland Bay Hotel, on refurbishing this attractive and up-market holiday venue in 2010, installed a myriad of lights in their gardens and grounds, most, if not all, of which would not seem to comply with the County Council's expectations (due to light spill) and the worst of which - a number of bright white floodlights directed skywards - are pretty certainly both energy inefficient and highly environmentally unfriendly in terms of light pollution, making it impossible for anyone in Talland to enjoy a dark night sky and the stars before midnight. Comments: "I am writing to register my objection to the outside skyward-facing lights the hotel uses, spoiling the lovely darkness that is increasingly such a rarity. We stayed at Talland Bay last October and absolutely loved the area. Nuff said." Phyllida Barnes, Petersfield, Hampshire (13 July 2011) |
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| Development Threats | Housing developments:
Now well on towards completion, "The Bay" is an up-market
development of 42 Holiday Homes (on which the only residence restriction
placed by the former Caradon Council was that you could live there for 365
days a year providing it isn't your "prime residence" - Caradon
Council perhaps not realising that there are only 365 days in a year). The
best of these "holiday homes" are believed to be worth well over
half a million pounds each already, and the ones not yet sold or built,
though not so attractive or well sited, are currently on offer at £350
- 380,000 each. The previous occupant of the holiday village site was a
caravan park, which though busy for a few weeks in high season was quiet
or even closed for most of the year and, being a mixture of touring and
static caravans, was only a superficial and impermanent scar on the landscape.
Now the new holiday village is an all year year operation with 24/7/365
traffic movements along the narrow lanes and continuous noise from the swimming
pool plant and equipment has destroyed the tranquillity of near neighbours.
During construction of the holiday village there have been many thousands
of vehicle movements in delivering materials to the site, including several
hundred (at least) movements of heavy lorries delivering large loads of
soil etc to adjust ground levels within the site - these heavy lorry movements
have caused considerable damage to the road surface of the narrow lane to
Talland Bay - damage which has been intermittently patched but which seems
unlikely to be be properly repaired anytime soon given the state of the
County Council's finances (proper repair would require reconstruction of
significant lengths of the more than one mile length of lane from the main
Looe to Polperro road). When "The Bay" development was approved campaigners feared this precedent would open the development floodgates and lead to the suburbanisation of this beautiful area. It has: A planning application is now pending to build 18 "affordable homes" on Sand Hill on the west side of Talland Bay, which will be visually intrusive from the opposite side of this small bay (and, ironically perhaps, will spoil the view from the 42 new up-market homes in "The Bay, Talland" on the east side of the bay). Campaigners against this application believe that a much bigger development will be brought forward if this present aplication is approved. Details can be found on the Planning Register of Cornwall Council - the application no. is PA11/01529 - click here.No decision has yet been made on this application so it may not be too late to make your views known to Cornwall Council (the planning authority). Comments: "Dear Editor, Thank you for the informative web page and for researching and making public the developments existing and proposed. My support to you and good wishes with your efforts to retain the beauty and tranquillity that is unique to Talland Bay. I stumbled on Talland Bay while staying in Looe on holiday in September of 2006. Walked the cliff path from Talland to Polperro. The highlight of my UK holiday. I still vividly remember this walk which is “walked nightly” if I can’t get to sleep! The scourge of the developer is seen here in Cape Town as well. In the 1070’s three tower blocks of flats were built at the base of Table Mountain. This should never ever have been allowed to happen. Fortunately there is greater public participation nowadays and may all your efforts be rewarded in retaining Talland Bay , for the most exquisitely beautiful place that it is. Best regards" Margi Daly Cape Town –South Africa (5 August 2011) Current proposals by the Coalition Government of the UK seem likely to make development easier everywhere in England (and Cornwall). It is clear that Talland Bay's apparent high level of protection means little or nothing even under current planning legislation - under the Coalition Government's proposals to have a laissez-fair system which would have a presumption for development - the Bay would seem to be under even greater threat of further urbanisation in the future. |
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| Let us know your views on these matters - we'll put them on this page - and let us know if you know of any proposed developments we've not heard of yet - click here for email form | ||