A leading Cornish businessman has voiced his support for the Stadium for Cornwall project.
Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee meets tomorrow (April 4) to give its decision on a planning application for the £16M stadium, to be sited at Langarth Farm, Threemilestone.
Although the Council last year voted not to back the project with any public finances, supporters of the scheme say they are hopeful that investors will come forward once full planning approval has been secured.
Toby Parkins, MD of St Agnes-based web development company, UKNetWeb, and president of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, believes a stadium would be a huge boost to the local economy.
He said: “I’ve spent time investigating the potential economic impact of a Stadium for Cornwall and the wide range of benefits it will have upon a number of areas of the Cornish economy.
“Stadiums in many areas of the UK form major parts of economic regeneration programmes due to the many areas of business that are affected by them and Exeter business people tell me it’s clear they have benefited enormously from their new stadium.
“This is a transformational project for Cornwall that will represent a key step change in the Duchy’s growth and produce a significant positive effect on the whole of Cornwall’s economic prosperity.”
The plans have been put forward by Cornwall Community Stadium (CCS) Ltd – a group made up of the Cornish Pirates rugby club, Truro and Penwith College and property developer Inox.
The application is for the erection of a 10,000 person stadium, including ancillary office and hospitality floor space and hotel and infrastructure appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.
