DESPITE Cornwall Council’s promises, the Stadium for Cornwall - proposed at Langarth as the home of the Cornish Pirates – never came to fruition, morphing instead into a football pitch for Truro City FC.

So how confident are we houses will be built at Langarth? We see road signs advertising a garden village with a district heat network, but will one or both ever materialise?

So far, Cornwall Council has spent £193-million on Langarth. It never intended to build houses, just prepare the site for a garden village with community facilities. It hoped developers would race forward to deliver the housing – but where are they?

To kickstart Langarth, Homes England granted Cornwall £48-million to build a road through the site on condition that 150 houses would be built by 2026, or it could claw back its money - a looming risk Cornwall Council is managing.

Langarth is a year behind schedule according to project lead Phil Mason, costing Cornwall’s taxpayers £5-million a year to service the debt for the money already spent. In the meantime, councillors are kept quiet with promises of housing delivery plans that are repeatedly delayed.

Now, the Lib Dem/Independent leadership is asking councillors to agree a budget allocating a further £55-million to Langarth, despite cutting £133-million from services.

If the District Heat Network is to become operational, a lithium mine, data centre and hospital extension must be built and £90-million of private investment found. Will this happen before the end of 2026 so it can heat the homes promised? No.

Questions must be asked: is Langarth a dead end, or can those elusive developers be found? Did Cornwall Council need to spend £300,000 per acre to buy the land? Cornwall’s people deserve answers, before this £48-million road truly leads to nowhere.