Cornwall Council’s flagship Garden Village project at Langarth has reached a pivotal milestone with the formal opening of Fordh Langarth, the major spine road which will connect the development and provides a route from the A390 at West Langarth through to the Royal Cornwall Hospital. The completion of the road delivers on the Council’s commitment to provide key infrastructure before work begins on building the new houses.
Cutting a ribbon to mark the opening of the new road to traffic, Council Leader Leigh Frost said he was very grateful to everyone who had worked so hard to deliver the project and was very proud that the Council had kept its commitment to the local community.
“This is a massively important moment in Langarth Garden Village’s journey “ he said. “Cornwall Council made a promise when they started this journey eight years ago, and that was that we would build the infrastructure first. And we have achieved this with the opening of Fordh Langarth.
“While it has been a long journey to get to this moment, we wanted to make sure that we got it right for the residents that are going to live here, have their families here, and build their communities here, as well as for the surrounding communities.
“Our vision from the start of this project has been to build a community at Langarth, not a series of housing estates. We have already got the Langarth Sports Hub, which is being used by Truro City Football Club, and the community centre will follow in conjunction with early housing delivery. This new road, which has been designed to provide safe, high-quality access for pedestrians and cyclists, is another step in creating this community…… all we need now are the houses. “
Cornwall Council’s Strategic Director for Sustainable Growth and Place Phil Mason is also adamant that Langarth will be a “proper community.”.
“We get challenged quite often about why we need all these new houses. The reason is very clear – we need to provide homes for the people of Cornwall, and these homes must be good quality homes where they can live as a part of a proper community.
“We want Langarth to be a place where people want to live, where they’ve got all the facilities that they need nearby and where they can just walk to a school, to a shop, or to work or catch a bus if they want to, not just jump into their cars”.
“This is already a strong community project, with the local parish council and the city council involved in shaping what happens here. This led to the construction of the football ground as one of the very first interventions, with the delivery of the new community pitches in the coming months creating opportunities for children and young people to get involved in building the place they will live and work in the future. “
Previously known as the Northern Access Road, the major spine road runs West to East through Langarth Garden Village. Funded by Homes England, and designed and constructed by CORMAC, the 4km road has connections to A390 at West Langarth (Penstraze) and East Langarth (Richard Lander school junction) and two side road connections to the nearby Quiet Lanes, as well as connecting to the hospital and Treliske Industrial Estate.
It has a 20-mph speed limit throughout its length, providing a safer environment to maximise sustainable transport and create an urban feel, with 3.5km of new 3.5m wide segregated cycle lanes and 8 km of new 2m wide footways and five pairs of bus stops at key locations ‘,
Delivering the scheme has been a major civil engineering project. The significant challenge of constructing a road across a valley resulted in excavating and then re-using 150,000 m3 of material across the site. Unlike many other major developments, all the excavated subsoil was stored on site before being re-used elsewhere on the scheme to minimise material going off site. The project team also had to deal with long periods of very challenging weather during the winter months.
“This has been a hugely important project for Cormac ”said Stephen Worthington, Business Director for the Infrastructure Division of Cormac.
“Our team has led this project from the initial concept in 2015, through to delivery, applying a fully integrated design-and-build approach at every stage. From early feasibility and optioneering, through to detailed design, procurement and construction, we are extremely proud to have taken it from a vision to a successfully delivered asset.
“This is the first time Cormac has completed a construction project of this size. I know that every member of staff who has worked on building Fordh Langarth will look back with pride, not only as traffic begins using the new road, but as the Garden Village is developed and built over the next 20 to 25 years.
Among the 100 people directly involved in the construction of Fordh Langarth, were a number of resident ecologists and environmental specialists who worked hard to protect the impact of the works on wildlife and increase bio-diversity.
CORMAC also worked with local schools and colleges to provide opportunities for young people to learn new skills, with apprenticeships offered in areas such as construction, building and engineering. The site led the way in the introduction of the Cormac T Level programme in conjunction with Truro & Penwith College.
The responsibility of turning the Vision for Langarth into reality is being led by Langarth Garden Village LLP which was created as a partnership between Cornwall Council and Treveth Holdings LLP in 2025. Portfolio Director for the Langarth Garden Village project Hary Lewis and his team are currently working with Cornwall Council and the South West’s top housebuilders, suppliers and tradesman to finalising plans for the delivery of the first new homes.
“The opening of Fordh Langarth is a major milestone” said Harry Lewis.
“It will enable us to make significant progress in our discussions with house builders with the aim of looking at spades in the ground during the next financial year”.
“We remain committed to ensuring that other key infrastructure, such as the first primary school, green spaces and community facilities, are provided in the early stages. We are currently working with the community to finalise plans for the stewardship scheme to ensure that the parks and urban squares, green spaces, water features, cycle and walking routes, cultural facilities, and community hubs deliver the aspirations set out by the vision for Langarth Garden Village and are managed well into the future.”
Local Cornwall Councillor Dulcie Tudor welcomes the opening of the new road and says that it sets an important standard for delivering the remainder of the project.
“It is really good to see that pedestrians and cyclists have been given priority, with much wider than usual cycle lanes and pavements, and a 20 mph speed limit throughout the whole of the route . The design of the road meets the aspirations for Langarth Garden Village which are to provide a safe, environmentally friendly space for the people living, working and visiting the area”.
“This is certainly a very good start and, as the local member, I will be pushing for the other infrastructure, such as the community centre, the parks and green spaces and the schools to be delivered in tandem with the new housing and not afterwards “.
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