Massive plans for a Waitrose and a new park-and-ride for Truro have overcome their final hurdle and building is set to start.
Truro City Council mounted a Judicial Review – a legal challenge against the Cornwall Council decision to grant planning consent for the scheme at the junction of Union Hill and Newquay Road.
But the West Briton understands that challenge was unsuccessful and the controversial multi-million pound scheme for the supermarket, a Taste Of Cornwall food store, 97 homes and a recycling centre will now go ahead.
Truro City Council refused to comment on the High Court decision as the town clerk and the council's legal adviser are both away. The legal costs are not known but in this year's budget the city council set aside £45,000 for the Judicial Review and another possible challenge to the 1,500-home development planned at Langarth.
Rob Nolan, who sits on Truro City Council and Cornwall Council, said the decision was "very disappointing".
He said: "We've seen the devastation of Trafalgar roundabout to make way for this scheme and now we have to prepare for the devastation of the valley and prepare ourselves for the economic damage this is going to do to the city.
"We have to look after the farmers' market in particular which could well be challenged by the Taste of Cornwall."
Mr Nolan did however also see that Waitrose would be welcomed by many.
He said: "On the plus side Waitrose is a great brand and a good addition to Truro."
The scheme is a joint venture between the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns the land, Cornwall Council, Waitrose and The Taste Of Cornwall, a consortium of farmers, growers and food processors.
Cornwall Council is yet to issue any comment in reaction to the decision.
Elwyn Jones, chairman of the Taste of Cornwall Ltd said: "We are delighted that the judge rejected all Truro City Council's grounds for this appeal. We hope that this project can now move forward to bring the much needed infrastructure improvements that Truro deserves."
Truro City Council could appeal against the High Court decision but that would incur further costs.
Mr Jones said: "As we demonstrated during the planning process, nearly 80 per cent of the population of Truro support this project. The city council have held up this project for nearly 12 months and wasted thousands of pounds of council taxpayers' money doing so. It is now time for them to accept that this project is going ahead and not waste even more money on further attempts to thwart the democratic process."
