Volunteers pitch in to help Cornwall villagers with recreation ground project
Highways England helps out local village near Truro with their community project.
The Highways England team behind a proposed A30 upgrade in Cornwall are not only concentrating their efforts on improving lives with their dualling scheme – they have also been busy helping a local village near Truro with their community project.
Highways England is working hard on the final design details of the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross improvement scheme, but members of the team took time out to help Chacewater villagers transform their recreation ground.
A group of 10 Highways England and project team staff pitched in to join villagers in clearing their neglected recreation area into a tranquil community space.
The combined two-day effort saw dead trees and branches felled, ivy, brambles and nettles cleared away, re-planting and wooden crates repurposed into benches to restore a tranquil haven for the whole community to enjoy.
The Highways England team, including assistant project manager Karl Sullivan fourth left, and Chacewater villagers, with Rob Knill third from right, and the team busy clearing vegetation
Chacewater Parish Council spokesman Rob Knill said:
This is a project we’ve been dreaming up for the last 10 to 15 years, to refurbish and recover a lot of the recreation ground here – and the work that’s been done by the Highways England team has been fantastic.
Josh Hodder, Highways England Project Manager for the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross scheme, added:
As a company, we undertake a lot of voluntary work and it was good to be involved with a community project within the area of our scheme – it was an amazing team effort and the transformation is going to make a real difference for the village.
The team have also attended a number of community events in the region – the Golowan Festival and Royal Cornwall, Stithians and Camborne shows – and will also be taking part in this week’s Falmouth Festival and the Cornish Steam and County Fair (16-19 August).
Highways England will be submitting a Development Consent Order later this summer to begin the planning process for the scheme.
And Mr Hodder added:
Since consultation earlier this year, we have been progressing with details of the design, working to reduce impact on the environment, and continuing our engagement and discussions with local communities.
We’re continuing that engagement over the next two weeks and I’d urge anyone with an interest to come and chat with us to find out more and answer any questions they might have.
Following the opening of Cornwall Council’s A30 Temple to Higher Carblake dualling scheme last year, the project proposes to dual eight miles of single carriageway between the Chiverton Cross and Carland Cross roundabouts, unlocking one of the last bottlenecks in Cornwall and improving journey times and safety for residents, businesses and visitors.
The cost of developing the scheme is being partly funded by an £8 million contribution from the European Regional Development Fund, with an additional £12 million for the construction phase. The remainder of the cost of developing and delivering the scheme will be funded by central Government.
Subject to statutory approval, construction is planned to start in spring 2020.
In the meantime, anyone wanting further information can go to the scheme website.
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