0 Comments | West Briton, The; Truro (UK), Jul 29, 2010 | by GINETTE DAVIES
A FORMER Penryn pub is set to be transformed into a specialist care home for adults with learning and physical disabilities.
The Swallowcourt Group is planning a Pounds 1 million redevelopment project after buying the Cross Keys site.
The development will create about 30 jobs.
Exciting Discussions are currently taking place with Cornwall Council planners regarding the refurbishment of the building.
Swallowcourt’s group development manager, Simon Phillips, told the West Briton: “It is massively exciting.”
The facility, which he said will look like an ordinary house from the outside, will cater for eight residents.
It is hoped to add an extension to the side, taking up five parking spaces.
Two self-contained flats will be created at the back, along with a covered courtyard.
Inside the main building will be a sensory room, lounge, large wet-room and six more bedrooms.
The residents will be aged from 18 to 65 and have learning and/ or physical disabilities needing full-time care.
It is expected there will be four to seven staff on site during the day with three overnight.
Having searched the Falmouth and Penryn area for the past two years to find the right property, Mr Phillips said he was delighted to find the Cross Keys on the market.
Committed He said: “I don’t think there is enough provision in this area and I believe we offer better homes than anybody else. “We are committed to providing the best possible care.” The pub got a bad press over the years as an under-age drinking venue with problems of late night noise.
It was also thrust into the national spotlight after a 2005 murder trial of a 17-year-old highlighted the pub as a place the teen and his friends regularly drank. It closed last year and has been boarded up since, but has been targeted by vandals and graffiti artists. Penryn mayor, Mary May, welcomed the scheme. She said: “I am really pleased about it
siding for house