A ROW of houses which was evacuated two years ago due to concrete cancer is now closer to being demolished and rebuilt.

In 2018, residents of Urban Terrace in Callington were told at short notice that their homes were unfit for habitation and they would have to move out.

Two tenants had previously alerted Cornwall Council, which owns the 15 properties, to ongoing damp, and after investigation, the houses were found to have Mundic Block which threatened their structural stability. All but one of the houses are now boarded up: one is still lived in due to the special circumstances of the person living there.

Now, the local authority’s housing construction department has submitted pre-planning application documents for the demolition of the terrace, and showing how the rebuild would look.

The proposals allow for the existing access route, which leads to Callington Community College, to be maintained.

The intention is to rebuild the row of houses in a more southerly position on the plot, in order to open up an area around the rear access lane to the northern end.

“A new vehicular access will be provided to encourage people to use the space and to add surveillance,” said Cornwall Council.

“All plots will be provided with allocated parking, with two spaces per house and one per flat.

“There will also be four dedicated parking spaces gifted to the neighbouring bungalows.

“It is the intention to keep the existing Cornish hedge located to the Western boundary.”