MONEY levied from housebuilders will go towards improving public transport and health provision in Liskeard.

An almost £235k Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) grant will be put toward the expansion of the Rosedean Surgery and the demolition of the empty ATS building, work needed to allow for the construction of a bus interchange on the former Cattle Market site.

An application for almost £150k from the Brownfield Release Fund is also in process, said Cornwall Councillor Nick Craker.

He explained that while a tax on developers has always been used to support local projects, a new stream of CIL funding in Cornwall - for strategic infrastructure projects – was launched last summer. Cornwall Council considers where to allocate this money, pooled from developments around the county.

“Liskeard has seen lots of housebuilding over the years, and Cllr Jane Pascoe and I have prioritised the infrastructure that the town desperately needs to support this growth,” said Cllr Craker.

“I’m grateful to the Leader and Cabinet at Cornwall Council for finally sitting up and listening to our need for support.”

THE Rosedean Surgery in Liskeard is set to be expanded as part of redevelopment plans at the former Cattle Market
THE Rosedean Surgery in Liskeard is set to be expanded as part of redevelopment plans at the former Cattle Market (Kerenza Moore)

Cllr Jane Pascoe said: “So often we hear from residents that we need more infrastructure before more houses are built.

“We must remember that Liskeard is the service centre for all the outlying villages in the catchment area, where more houses have been provided. In the last six years, Dobwalls alone has provided over 250 houses, with more to be built this year.  We have been working hard to encourage the extension to the doctors surgery, to increase the medical provision needed to support this growth.”

Jane Pascoe is also Cornwall Councillor to four other rural parishes and said that the planned bus terminus in the Cattle Market, located close to the doctors surgery and the services in the new Cornwall Council hub, will be welcomed by residents in the villages.

Cllr Pascoe is hopeful that the bus interchange will see the use of public transport increase and at the same time bring footfall into the town to support businesses. She added that it “will ease the congestion and emissions caused sometimes by the buses in the centre”.