A TRUST that will look into the possibility of the community taking on Launceston’s Eagle House Hotel, as well as researching the viability of providing an affordable housing project for the town, will be given £10,000 by the town council.

After deliberation, and a recommendation from Launceston Town Council’s finance committee in September not to approve the expenditure to the Launceston Development Trust, the town council agreed at its meeting on October 18 to give the trust £10,000.

This means £5,000 will be spent towards surveys and research work to see if it is feasible for the community to buy and run the Eagle House as a hotel, and £5,000 on another project, which would look at developing a piece of land near Polson to provide affordable housing for local people.

Daniel Brewer, the managing director of a business based in Launceston called ‘Resonance’, first approached the town council in July with his proposals for a town community trust.

At the recent town council meeting Mr Brewer said the money would be put towards initial surveys, including topographical and structural surveys, ‘so when we go out to people and say please invest, we have substantial evidence these projects are real and viable’.

He added: “We have been talking to some local individuals who indicated they might put in their own money at some point.

“Really this is an opportunity for the town council to show some leadership.”

Cllr Paul O’Brien, the chairman of the town council’s finance and general purposes committee, which last month had voted five against three not to approve the £10,000 expenditure to the Launceston Development Trust, told fellow councillors: “This is one that puts me in an extraordinarily awkward position.

“I’m one of the three who believe that’s exactly what the council should be doing. I say so not because of any conviction that these are winners from the word go, I don’t know that they are. But I do know the impact on the town if successful would be very considerable indeed.”

Referring to a planning application to change the use of Eagle House from hotel to residential use, which was approved by Cornwall Council, Cllr O’Brien added: “If you think back to when Eagle House started to change, every single one of us will have had countless people complaining to us about the loss of amenity to the town.

“I think it’s beholden on members of this council to look beyond the end of their nose to back projects this town is in desperate need of.”

Deputy mayor Cllr Margaret Young said she too voted in favour of giving the trust the expenditure at the finance committee last month.

She said: “I think local people require houses that they can afford to live in. Five thousand pounds for that to be investigated is nothing.

“When you think of what we have spent our money on and some of it not wisely, that’s not a lot of money.

“Eagle House is central to the social life of this town. I think if we are investing money in it as a community it could become a real community asset. I shall fight for this all the way.”

Cllr John Harris said of the affordable housing aspect: “We don’t have the stock to house all our local people and they have to be forced to leave the local area. I think £5,000 is a good investment just to see if the project is viable.”

Cllr Val Bugden-Cawsey said she was in support of the affordable housing scheme research ‘indeed if it’s affordable and for local people’. She added: “The houses should be more than a square box with little or no cupboard space.”

However, Cllr Bugden-Cawsey questioned if £5,000 of the town council’s money would be well-spent on looking at the Eagle House Hotel: “Significant investments would need to be made inside and out. Would £5,000 on Eagle House not be better used by offering free parking in the multistory car park?”

Cllr Brian Keighley said: “I went down to St Mary’s Church, they need some money for their heating, which I think is more important. I expect at the next finance and general purposes meeting we will be putting up the precept — will people be happy with us putting up the precept if we pay £10,000?”

Cllr Leighton Penhale said: “Some seem to think £5,000 is loose change, other wills find that’s a lot of money. Affordable housing is needed but we are looking at the most rotten site you can think of.”

Cllr Roger Creagh-Osborne said: “Yes the site is very difficult. Its very far from impossible.”

Cllr Jane Nancarrow said: “We know there are so many homeless people; we do need affordable housing. I think they are both community projects and that’s why we are here aren’t we? To do things for the community.”

Cllr Tony Sandercock said: “Everybody wants Eagle House open but not at the expense of the ratepayers.”

Mayor Cllr Brian Hogan said: “Eagle House, whether people like it or not, is gone. It will never ever be the same again. As a community asset, however, I do believe there’s potential for that project.

“I think this council, or I would hope this council, is futuristic enough to look at every angle of the different projects, not just come from one angle. We are trying to leave a good legacy.”

Votes were taken separately on whether councillors wished the town council to financially support the affordable housing aspect, and the Eagle House project. The majority of councillors voted in favour, and the Launceston Development Trust will receive £10,000 from the town council.