A service area being proposed for the A30 at the Kennards House interchange with the A395 (that runs up to north Cornwall) just to the west of Launceston, is being promoted by Westpoint Associates Ltd based in Penryn, with a Truro based architectural practice preparing the design.

The principle of a service area has been discussed with the Highways Agency and Cornwall Council, and it will be the subject of formal planning application sometime around the New Year. The perspective drawing illustrates the potential service area that has emerged as a result of these discussions, but this may not be the final design because it might change as a result of a public consultation.

The site for the proposed service area is the land immediately adjoining the northern roundabout of the Kennards House interchange, but this is not a new proposal for the land.

A service area was earmarked for this site in 1999 and 2001 when planning permission was granted by the former North Cornwall District Council for a petrol filling station, parking, service building, picnic area, 60 bedroom hotel and associated café / restaurant.

These permissions have since expired, and so the application that will be made in the near future will be seeking to, effectively, renew these permissions. However, given that has been ten years since those permissions, the nature and scale of the new service area will be different and be more compatible with its environment.

The proposed service area has been designed to look like a farmyard complex centred round a pedestrian courtyard, or piazza, with car parking restricted beyond the courtyard. The travelling public will be able to rest and eat in this area, and will have easy access on foot to washroom/toilet facilities, small shops and a restaurant.

For those travellers wishing to take a longer break there will be a 30 bedroom hotel and associated restaurant overlooking the valley and golf course on the Bodmin side of the site. The land behind the hotel will be kept open, with access for those wishing to picnic, and it will contain ponds that will help drain the site in a natural manner.

A filling station with associated shop, toilets, HGV, coach and caravan parking is proposed for the Launceston side of the site. The buildings will be single storey apart from the hotel that will be one and a half storeys high, but because it will be located at the lowest part of the site it will not dominate the development.

In order to assist Westpoint Associates Ltd in designing the service area, a public consultation meeting has been arranged for Friday, October 8 in the Dartmoor Suite at the Trethorne Leisure Centre, Kennards House, Launceston PL15 8QE (01566 86324).

The public consultation will be between 4pm and 7pm when members of the design team will be in attendance to answer any questions that the public might have. The display will also be available for viewing on Saturday, October 9 between 10am and 2pm.