THE site of a historic Cornish church, which is to be demolished 180 years after it was built, should not be used to provide housing, a council meeting has heard.

Former mayor Cllr Bert Biscoe told fellow city councillors he believed the land on which doomed St Paul’s Church stands should provide a community hub for residents in the area.

Cllr Biscoe also told a meeting of Truro City Council on Monday [September 29] that a question mark hangs over how much expert opinion was sought by Church Commissioners when coming to the decision that the disused church on Agar Road should be knocked down.

The church closed in 2007, and confirmation of its demolition was revealed earlier this month in a report for the Diocese of Truro, which stated: “It does not appear to the commissioners, after consultation with the Church Buildings Council, that the building is of such historic and archaeological interest or architectural quality that it ought to be preserved in the interests of the nation and the Church of England.”

Cllr Biscoe told fellow councillors on Monday that 11 people had conducted the inquiry into the building’s future, including High Court judges and bishops who concluded it would have to be demolished.

“I think that given the structural condition of the tower and everything else, there’s no point in challenging that. It’s going to come down,” he said. “I think the real question is about the future of the site. Firstly, it was a charitable gift and, in my view, should stay in the public domain.”

Cllr Biscoe outlined two views for the use of the land post-demolition. “One is that the site could be used in order to provide an alternative pastoral community focus for that very large community of residential neighbourhoods clustered around the church. The second option is to use it for housing.

“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 asked for the council to agree to write to the Church Commissioners and to the Bishop of Truro to suggest an exploratory meeting with the city council to discuss the process of finding an appropriate future for the site. Truro mayor Cllr Chris Wells agreed to follow up the suggestion with town clerk David Rodda.

Cllr Biscoe added: “The one thing of some interest, which is of no consequence now, is that the conservation builder was insistent that the damage to the stone was not the worst he’d ever seen and was not beyond salvation, but it’s too late to labour that point now. It does raise the question of how much actual expert opinion was sought.”

The church was originally built in 1845, with the east end added in 1884 and the tower completed in 1910. Both were built using polyphant stone, which weathers badly and has a lifespan of around 100 years when used externally.