The overwhelming vote in favour of plans for a new Stadium for Cornwall do not guarantee the project will go ahead – but it felt like a victory for supporters of the plan after yesterday's strategic planning committee meeting.
The Cornwall Council vote to grant conditional planning permission for the development in Threemilestone, near Truro, by 18 votes in favour and one abstention, took place in front of a packed public gallery. It was heralded by some as "momentous".
In fact, such was the feeling of euphoria that chairman Mike Varney, in confirming the decision, feverishly proclaimed it was something he had always been in favour of.
The decision represents the crossing of an important planning hurdle for the proposal for the 10,000-capacity stadium. But approval for access is still needed – not to mention the necessary £16 million or so that will be required to build it.
But, after councillors voted against putting £10 million of public money towards the stadium last May, to some of those in favour of the idea, yesterday's decision certainly felt like an important moment.
"We didn't expect that," said Rod Lyon, from the Stadium4Cornwall Working Group, who spoke in favour of the proposal. "I thought we had a good chance, but I didn't expect it to get such a strong approval.
"If it had only gone through 10-8 it wouldn't have had the same impact. Such strong approval will help the developers when seeking funding. The four years plus of extremely hard work has now proven to have been really worthwhile. We can now look forward to Cornwall's dream of its own stadium coming to fruition."
If built, the stadium would have a mixture of standing-areas and seating, surrounding a 4G artificial surface that could be used for rugby, football and hockey.
The Cornish Pirates, who are currently unable to gain promotion to English rugby's top flight unless they move from their current Penzance home, are part of the consortium behind the proposal, Cornwall Community Stadium Limited (CCS), along with Truro College, which will use part of the stadium, and Exeter-based developer Inox.
A spokesman for CCS said: "This is an important step forward for the project and allows ongoing funding talks to continue." It is understood those talks are ongoing with potential funders. Peter Masters, chairman of Truro City Football Club, said that if the opportunity arises the club – which is facing relegation from the non-league's second tier – would like to be part of the stadium.
However, Truro City Council and Kenwyn Parish Council both expressed concern about access to the stadium, traffic on the A390, an important ambulance route, and the burden the development would put on the city's sewage system.
Truro councillor Ron Cooke said it was possible the city council may lodge a judicial review against plans to build 1,500 homes on associated land, which could impact on the plans for the stadium.
Bob Ellis, vice-chairman of Kenwyn Parish Council, said: "I don't think anybody is against the actual concept of having a stadium for Cornwall, we just question lots of things. We are very concerned about health and safety and how the ambulances get through."
