A GROUP of Launceston residents and businesses have started work on looking into providing an affordable housing project in the Polson area.

The Launceston Community Development Trust (CDT) was established in 2016 ‘as a response to the opportunities and challenges faced by Launceston’.

Its purpose is to secure, develop and hold in perpetuity strategic assets across the town and act as a responsible investment vehicle for people and organisations to own a share of these investments.

The town council heard an update on the CDT from director and interim chair Daniel Brewer at its meeting on November 21.

Last October, the town council agreed to put £5,000 towards the CDT on a project that is looking at developing a piece of land near Polson to provide affordable housing for local people.

Mr Brewer told councillors pre-application advice had been sought from Cornwall Council, as well as views from the town council’s planning and economic development committee, and that the CDT is now ‘refining’ the scheme on the basis of this feedback.

The CDT has been invited by a local landowner to explore how it could build a number of one, two and three-bedroom homes for local people.

Mr Brewer said: “We do think there’s something viable there, something different in terms of making it affordable to people with a genuine local connection. We are trying to build momentum through membership, at the moment we’ve got about 15 shareholders. There are some pots of money we can get access to when we get certain levels of membership.”

For more information on becoming a member, visit www.launcestoncdt.co.uk or call 01566 457069.