19.09.03
Official opening of £581,900 Millbrook Business Park

The first village in Cornwall to receive Objective One investment for workshops will be celebrating the official opening of its new business park on Friday 26 September.

The village of Millbrook on the Rame Peninsula has benefited from a £581,900 business development thanks to investment from Objective One and Caradon District Council. The innovative scheme includes eight workshops with a host of sustainable features and is expected to create at least 12 new jobs for local people.

Councillor Ron Overd, Caradon's Cabinet member with the Supporting the Rural Community and Economy portfolio, said: "Caradon has achieved national recognition as a Beacon Council for its work in supporting the rural economy, and one of the major factors in our success is our commitment to providing demand driven services.

"About a third of our enquiries for business premises in Torpoint come from people on the Rame Peninsula who want to start or expand businesses. We also know that parts of the Peninsula suffer from the district's highest rate of unemployment, so it makes sense to provide high quality, purpose built premises where they are so clearly needed.”

The strategy has already paid off with five of the eight units being occupied and another under offer. The business park is now home to:

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Objective One Partnership, said: "Objective One is playing a crucial role in Caradon by investing in a wide range of quality workspace that allows our local businesses to expand and grow. We're delighted to see the official opening of the Millbrook Business Park.”

WH Tolley and Son Ltd carried out the construction work on Millbrook Business Park, and the workshops' rural location means that extra care has been devoted to sustainability issues. The units were designed both to blend sympathetically with their surroundings and to incorporate energy and water saving features. The units have full rainwater recycling, which allows filtered rainwater to be used for hand basins and toilets. The rainwater tank also provides the emergency water supply to be used in the event of fire, and all other water for the site is taken from a borehole and purified. The business park has its own sustainable drainage system, and the workshops are also supplied with green electricity from renewable sources.

The workshops are constructed of stone with slate roofs to help them blend into the countryside, and on the outside tanalised timber has been used instead of painted timber. Aluminium gutters and down pipes have also been installed instead of unsustainable plastic fittings.

The units are located just outside Millbrook near Gallows Park and range in size from 397 square feet to 772 square feet. The Objective One European Regional Development Fund contributed £232,760 to the project, while Caradon funded the remaining £349,140.

For more information or to book one of the remaining units, contact Neil McCulloch on 01579 324110.

Editor's notes:

If you would like to arrange interviews or photos with businesses at Millbrook Business Park, you can contact:

• Mr B Luxford (stained glass) 01752 823139

• Mr C Russell (carpentry and joinery) 07811 435226

• Mr R Black (furniture, picture and porcelain restoration) 07773 001878

• Mr S Pyne (eco friendly temporary accommodation) 01752 662000

• Mr K Adams (UPVC windows) 07967 72042 or 01752 822511

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) helps reduce the gap between development levels and living standards among the regions and the extent to which least-favoured regions are lagging behind. It also helps redress the main regional imbalances in the Community by participating in the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind and the economic and social conversion of regions.

Jason Clark
Communications Adviser
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Tel: 01872 241379
Fax: 01872 241388
objectiveone@cornwall.gov.uk

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