A COASTAL parish is providing its own affordable housing for local people as it fights to keep the heart of its village beating strong.

Chairman of the Deviock Community Trust Mark Gibbons says that there has been a ‘hollowing out’ of the community over the past 10 years. Young people who have grown up in the village settle elsewhere as they cannot afford accommodation.

The issue is one suffered by many villages in Cornwall, but in Downderry and Seaton, the steep topography puts development land even more at a premium.

CHAIRMAN of the Deviock Community Trust Mark Gibbons
Chairman of the Deviock Community Trust Mark Gibbons (supplied)

“There are very few flat sites, so those that do become available are quickly snapped up, and the land price itself means that the housing will not be affordable.”

A lack of housing doesn’t only affect young people and families, says Mark: there’s also an exodus among older people who are downsizing. As a result you start to see communities wither.

The Deviock Community Trust – a registered land trust - was founded in response to these concerns.

“We’re trying to provide a plot in the heart of the community for people that in some cases have lived here for generations.

“These aren’t issues that are going to be solved by building 400 new homes on a hillside elsewhere.

“Parish councillors here have been trying to address this for many years. The Land Trust was thought to be the best vehicle for progressing this issue.”

Coombe Park in Downderry is one of the very few truly affordable housing sites in the parish. Once owned by the RAF, the site of single-storey units has been owned and managed as social housing by a local family for around 40 years, and some 15 people currently live there.

IN the foreground is the much needed and valued social housing site at Coombe Park in Downderry: behind on the hillside are houses more typical of the coastal parish
IN the foreground is the much needed and valued social housing site at Coombe Park in Downderry: behind on the hillside are houses more typical of the coastal parish (supplied)

With the building stock coming to the end of its life, and the Trust conscious of new regulations on the horizon that would render the units un-rentable, it has a project under way to redevelop the site with new social housing.

“Our aim is to save the site for community homes, and also to prevent the people that currently live there from losing their homes,” says Mark.

“We’ll also be providing further housing for more people but the exact number is still subject to confirmation.”

The Trust has had key support from Cornwall Council through its Early Stage Feasibility Fund. This £40,000 has enabled the Trust to obtain all the surveys required to go through a professional feasibility process, and a report is very soon due. A local architect has produced drawings, and the next stage will be to go to public consultation prior to submitting a planning application.

“The challenge for any affordable project is that costs have increased massively. We’re waiting with baited breath to hear what this government is going to provide in terms of support for schemes such as this.

“It’s about stepping stones, and while we don’t know what we’re still going to have to overcome, we’re very much of the view that this could be delivered in the next three years.”