Almost a thousand residents in the Camborne area have lent their voice to Camborne Town Deal’s bid for £25 million in Government funding, completing surveys to express what they felt would make the town a better place to live and work.
935 digital and paper surveys were returned, and findings included the following themes:
- Camborne is seen as a proper Cornish town with a strong sense of identity, a pride in its history and a sense of community spirit
- Demonstrating a sense of community is especially important – with over 40% of respondents saying they wanted more community facilities and 38% of respondents looking for more community events
- Over three quarters of respondents cited shopping as one of their main reasons for visiting Camborne town centre, and almost 70% of people completing the survey said an improved shopping offer would encourage them to visit more often
- Many responses indicated that residents felt certain areas of the town centre needed improvement, hoping for a wider range of shops – independent and brand name – and physical improvements to the appearance
- Over 40% of people said that better leisure facilities would encourage them to visit the town centre more often, and 42% would like to see better options for eating and drinking
- More than 30% of respondents said they wanted more cultural opportunities or heritage sites in the town
- Family friendly facilities are important, as are facilities offering a space for teenagers to spend time
- The surrounding countryside is beautiful and easy access to the coast is seen as an advantage and Camborne’s central location with good transport links and access to the A30 and both coasts was seen as a benefit by residents
Anna Pascoe, chair of the board of Camborne Town Deal, said: “The amount of responses we received, and detail that people went into, show how passionately people feel about Camborne. We’re so pleased to have received such strong feedback, and we’ll make sure we use this information to help shape the projects we’ll be including in the bid.”
Project A-Void, a scheme offering capital grants to upgrade town centre businesses, is already underway thanks to £750k of accelerator funding from the Government and the Camborne Town Deal Board is currently looking at the possibility of buying vacant central sites and transforming them into state-of-the-art community facilities.
Many respondents also voiced their thoughts about other issues within the town – antisocial behaviour, safety, parking costs and availability of public conveniences were major talking points in the survey. This feedback has been provided to Camborne Town Council and other community partners for consideration.
Camborne Town Deal Board was formed this summer to identify and implement projects in the town that will help build a prosperous future through innovative regeneration. As one of 100 towns throughout the UK to be selected for the Government’s Towns Fund Deal, Camborne now has the opportunity to bid for up to £25 million of funding, and the board will submit this bid in January 2021.
For more information, visit the Camborne Town Deal website.
