MEDIA RELEASE
 

 
31.10.02
 

EUROPEAN MONEY FOR ONE OF CORNWALL'S BEST-LOVED BEAUTY SPOTS



Alistair Cameron from the National Trust (left) with project manager Mike Hardy.

A project to improve visitor facilities at Kynance Cove on The Lizard is underway - helped by a £308,000 European Regional Development Fund grant approved through Objective One.

Nearly £700,000 is to be spent on work at the cove – including creating environmentally friendly toilet facilities for visitors. Over half of the funding will come from the National Trust, which owns the site, and a £50,000 grant is being provided by the Rural Development Programme.

Alastair Cameron, the National Trust’s countryside manager for Lizard, Penrose & Godolphin, said: “Kynance Cove is a perfect symbol of Cornwall’s tourism appeal and Objective One is helping to make the unspoilt, dramatic coastal landscape and rich history of this popular place more accessible for people to visit and enjoy.

“The Trust bought the historic buildings at the cove in 2000, recognising that this special place needed protection from either neglect or over-commercialisation. We also realised that popular visitor attractions - Kynance attracts over 130,000 people a year - need good quality facilities.”

Mr Cameron said that the project involves:
Installing water and electric services – located underground to protect the landscape. (Previously buildings at the cove had to rely on a diesel generator, with attendant noise and pollution.)
Refurbishing the buildings at the cove – including a new roof using solar roof tiles to generate solar energy.
Creating a sensitively designed toilet building – with a turf roof and self-contained “bio-bubble” sewage/water treatment plant to ensure the beach stays clean. The building is designed for easy access and includes toilets for the disabled, baby changing facilities and a shower.

The project has been developed by the National Trust in consultation with Landewednack Parish Council, the Environment Agency, English Nature and Cornwall Archaeological Unit.

Work has now started and will continue until Easter, when it will stop for the season so that visitors can enjoy the cove and its facilities as normal. Then, from October 2003, the rest of the building and landscaping work will take place for completion by Easter 2004.

Mr Cameron added: “The benefits of the work will be the long-term enhancement of a much-loved feature of Cornwall’s heritage, respect for the cove’s environment and natural beauty – and support for the local economy by improving the facilities and visitor experience.”

For further information contact:
Alastair Cameron
The National Trust
01326 561407

 

Editors notes:

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

ERDF is one of our four funds that make up the Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which is making £314 million of grant funding available for developing the local economy between 2000 and 2006. ERDF exists to:

 Help reduce the gap between development levels and living standards among the regions and the extent to which least-favoured regions are lagging behind.
Help redress the main regional imbalances in the European Community by participating in the development and structural adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind, and the social conversion of regions.

 

Jason Clark
Communications Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Tel: 01872 241379
Fax: 01872 241388
jason@dclark.co.uk