New chapter for Polgrean Place redevelopment

Demolition of Polgrean Place is complete, making way for the construction of a multi-million pound social housing redevelopment in St Blazey, Cornwall.

The ambitious scheme from Ocean Housing will provide 60 new homes for rent and shared ownership, two commercial units, and a community space.

Gilbert & Goode, Ocean Housing’s sister company and the principal building contractor for the development, began work on the demolition in January, before the impact of COVID-19 meant the building site was temporarily closed.

Alice Maffey, development manager at Ocean Housing, said: “Coronavirus has understandably caused slight delays to our programme. For the safety of staff and the local community, we made the informed decision to shut down the site at the end of March.

“However, revised guidance meant demolition works restarted in April with a reduced workforce adhering to strict social distancing guidelines. The team has worked really hard throughout the last few months to get everything cleared ready for new construction.”

Building will begin in September with a collection of 10 two and three-bedroomed homes, which will be available for affordable rent through Homechoice, and will be ready for families to move in by the end of summer 2021.

Mark Gardner, chief executive of Ocean Housing Group, said: “Completing this demolition is a big milestone for us. I am so proud of our team for pulling together over the last few months to safely move forward with the redevelopment of Polgrean Place.

“It is our biggest project to date, and will provide much needed high quality, affordable homes for families and older people in the St Blazey community.

“We have kept in touch with local residents throughout lockdown, making sure they are up to date with everything going on at the site. I would like to thank them for their ongoing support and vigilance, and I look forward to being able to welcome the first families into their brand-new homes around this time next year.”

The first homes are expected to be finished by summer 2021, with the whole redevelopment anticipated to take around two and a half years to complete.