IT’S been empty for 18 years, and church commissioners recently gave their blessing for St Paul’s Church to be demolished. The Diocese of Truro has invited the church’s neighbours in Agar Road, Tregolls Road and Alverton Lane to offer their opinions on what should happen to the site.

We asked: what’s it like living in the shadow of a beautiful but increasingly unsafe building?

Emma Jenkin and her family have lived at the bottom of Agar Road for 22 years, with windows overlooking the building. “When the church was open, I used to stand at the bedroom window watching weddings,” she recalled.

But that was 18 years ago. “We get that it’s got to come down, and we’ve been waiting for a long time to see what’s going to happen,” said Emma.

“You get to a point where you just want something to be done. The kids keep asking if it’s going to fall on our house, and we have found bits of masonry on the road and in the turning space.

“I think it will take some time for them to take it down – years, probably, rather than months.”

Anti-social behaviour has become an issue, with people camping in the church grounds and even entering the building. Security guards visit twice a day, but are harder to raise in the evenings.

Emma recently returned from a night out to find a group of teenagers at the top of the tower, taking photos which appeared on social media. “I phoned the security company, and the person who answered asked, ‘Are you sure that’s one of ours?’ They called me back 20 minutes later to say it was, but that they wouldn’t be able to get someone there for another 40 minutes.”

Then there is the uncertainty over what will be built in its place. “Whatever it is, it will be very different to what’s there now,” she said. “Is a developer going to buy it and build a massive block of flats? How many cars can this little road sustain?”

Ultimately, she says: “It’s really sad. You don’t buy a view, but when you buy a house with a view of a grade II listed church that’s open, you assume that’s how it’s going to be.

“I will also miss the greenery – the trees are beautiful, but they will probably go with the church.”

Opinion is divided on the decision to approve demolition. While many feel the time has come - Bishop Hugh Nelson described the disused church as a “barrier to the church's mission” – others are dismayed at the loss of the landmark tower, and fear the site will no longer be of service to the community if developed.

While the Diocese has proposed almshouses for the site, Cllr Bert Biscoe (Ind, Moresk and Trehaverne) has called for a community centre. “In my view, you can find pieces of land to put housing on, but you won’t easily find a charitably gifted piece of land to put a community facility in a place densely populated and ill-provided for,” he said.