I have just returned from a meeting of Falmouth Bay Residents’ Association at which the proposed application to develop green field land overlooking Swanpool Beach was discussed.
The question was asked “Why had Falmouth Town Council Planning Committee recommended approval of the plan when clearly local opinion is clearly against such development?” The answer, given by a councillor, is that there is no valid planning reason on which to base a recommendation to refuse the application, but he added that the decision will finally be made by Cornwall Council.
The councillor went on to stress that the town council planning committee are only a consultative body and that they have no real power in the matter. If this is the case why do the committee not stand up for local residents and on their behalf recommend that Cornwall Council refuse the application?
If the town council planning committee have no real power of decision making and therefore no real need to examine the minutiae of planning law, all they should do is consult The Falmouth Civic Society and Falmouth Bay Residents' Association and other interested bodies and reflect their opinions in their recommendations. This would be democracy working.
John Simmons,
Stracey Road,
Falmouth
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