West Briton (Falmouth, Penryn, Helston, The Lizard)
‘Lack of respect’ is being shown to people still living at Heartlands site
RESIDENTS of homes which are part of the closed-down Heartlands site say they are paying for services they are no longer receiving.
The situation is so bad, they say, that parking permits which ran out in August last year still haven’t been renewed.
The parts of the Pool site run by the Heartlands Trust, including a café, soft play area and conference centre, closed on January 31 after the National Lottery withdrew its funding, claiming the site was unsustainable. This then meant that the trust was forced into administration.
Heartlands includes a number of businesses, which are still open, and more than 100 houses and flats, which are both freehold and leasehold.
Cllr Philip Desmonde, who represents the area, brought up the plight of tenants at a meeting of Cornwall Council, calling for urgent help for those living on the site who he said had been left in the dark about utilities and services now the trust had folded.
“I’ve been contacted by one of my residents, Michelle, who has a longlease apartment in Heartlands – one of many residents – and she has no idea what she should be doing now with the service charge which she has been paying to the Heartlands Trust”, he said.
“In her own words, ‘We now have no idea or means of contact regarding how to pay our bills.
“‘What do we do if we have emergencies – utilities, flood, boilers, smoke alarms going off?’
“‘It is completely unacceptable that we have been treated with such a lack of respect when we are paying for a service that we’re currently not receiving. Our parking permits expired in August 2023 and have not been replaced.’
“I have spoken to officers; they’re trying to get in touch, but there is a wider issue here over the question of a business case, which I suggested we implement to enable everybody to be aware of what Cornwall Council’s intentions might be the moment we can get the keys off the trustees and take over as landlord.”
He said it was essential arrangements were put in place to run the site properly and provide security and financial stability for both existing and future occupants of Heartlands.
Addressing the council’s portfolioholder for housing, Cllr Olly Monk, Cllr Desmonde said: “My plea to you is: please could you arrange for everybody to be given, as soon as possible – before the end of this week – some guidance on where Cornwall Council sees their roles and responsibilities with all those who are impacted by the devastation of the trust going into administration?”
Cllr Monk said he was not aware of the details regarding the companies which were leasing and looking after the properties on the council-owned land, and promised to look into the matter as soon as possible.
On Heartlands’ last day of full operation in January David Collins, who had moved into his flat 18 months before, told the West Briton: “I asked the staff what the council had told them about the future of the site and the properties: nothing. We’ve heard nothing from the council. Your guess is as good as mine. It’s disgusting.
“We pay service charges and everything to Heartlands. Who do we pay now? This is our council and their property. The least they can do is keep us in the loop.”