Following the parish wide consultation that was carried out recently by St Erth Parish Council (SEPC) regarding the St Erth Riverside Regeneration & Community Access Project we had 90 responses, both via the Google online form (72.2%) and via paper copies (27.8%). These responses have been amalgamated and the key points will be considered as part of this report.
Q1 – Everyone who responded to the survey lives in St Erth parish except one.
Q2 – 98.9% of respondents (all except one) supported the proposal to carry out soft bank repairs and willow planting along sections of the footpath and include some formalised dog access points to the river.
Q3 – 91.1% of respondents supported the proposal to regenerate the scrubland behind the play park
Q4 – 90% of respondents supported the creation of two new formal pedestrian access points to the scrubland.
Q5 – 20 people indicated that they would be interested in finding out more about becoming a Volunteer River Warden to help ensure the long term sustainability of the project with a further 36 suggesting they may be interested. For those who left contact details on the survey we will be in touch in due course regarding taking this forward.
Q6 – Additional comments regarding the project were in the main very supportive:
- ‘Safeguard this important community asset.’
- ‘This project addresses the urgent need for repairs to the riverbank and provides a longer-term plan to deal with future problems, should they materialise.’
- ‘It would be great to improve the scrubland area.’
- ‘It is important that the riverbank is made safe for everyone to use and enjoy. There used to be access to the scrubland years ago, and access to this land would aid the well-being of the local population.’
Concerns included how the ongoing maintenance would be paid for, parking problems, sufficient provision of bins and seating, disturbing wildlife in the scrubland, flood risk mitigation:
- ‘The concept is good but a concern is the ongoing maintenance costs and potential liabilities associated with the areas.’
- ‘Conditional support for the access points depending on where exactly they would be… would need careful consideration of flood risk, mitigate and wildlife disturbance etc.’
- ‘The scrubland is already a wildlife habitat it does not need human intervention or more expensive maintenance. We have wonderful access to nature if we maintain what we have.’
Summary
The results of the survey show that the majority of the community are very supportive of this project, in particular the work to restore the riverbank and install dog access points. A number of people wanted to see work carried out on the river bank near the bird reserve going towards the Causeway and also the reopening of the path at Carbis Mill. Unfortunately, these areas are not within SEPC’s gift to decide what happens as the land is owned by others. However, as these are both gold paths on the Public Rights of Way network, SEPC will continue to push for Cornwall Council to properly maintain the paths. Once SEPC knows if it has been successful in its current bid for funding, further details will be shared regarding which sections of the riverbank will be the subject of soft bank repairs and the locations of the proposed dog access points. In addition, more details will be shared outlining the proposed works to the scrubland.
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