Developers have taken a step closer towards a major housing development being built in the north of Helston.

An outline planning application has been submitted for 340 homes on land near Gwealdues, together with offices and a medical practice.

It refers to land owned by farmer and developer Mark Rowe, and referred to as HX1 in the Helston Development Framework.

It is one of three sites identified as having potential for development, with Cornwall Council estimating Helston will need 900 homes built in the next 20 years - only half of which will fit in existing developed areas.

The 15.4 hectare HX1 site is the first to submitted for planning permission.

Developers Jackamax Ltd hope to include a proportion of affordable housing, including flats, in the homes part of the application, with a 650 square metre commercial unit (including office space) and a 450 square metre medical centre, to include six or seven consulting rooms.

The houses would mainly be two-storey, with a percentage of three-storey proposed for “focal locations” and single storey where homes face open space to avoid a height conflict with existing neighbours.

Jackamax said it was working with Coastline Housing to provide affordable homes for local people, stressing: “Affordable housing will be offered to the local people, in the first instance of Helston and Wendron, as there is a large requirement for housing in the area.”

These would be a mix of rented and shared ownership, plus discounted sales, and it is planned for them to be spread throughout the development.

Detailed figures of affordable housing would be decided as part of the planning process.

The developers are also proposing to design a bypass to run in parallel with bordering Rowe's Lane and connect to the A394 - effectively bypassing Trewennack.

A spokesman has said previously that this would be a scheme that Cornwall Council would need to take up and fund.

At public exhibitions held already, almost half of the responses mentioned traffic, with concerns raised over the potential use of Rowe's Lane as a “rat run” (although developers have since said this would be closed to traffic) and the effect access to the site would have on the existing main road, the A394.

Flooding was another key issue, with some people doubting that the soakaways proposed by developers could cope with the quantity of rain and flooding seen last winter.

Other concerns included a perceived lack of existing infrastructure to cope with the size of the proposed development, including secondary school places, medical facilities, employment and public transport.

Members of the public have until September 9 to make their feelings on the proposed development known.

Letters can be sent to the planning department at Cornwall Council, Dolcoath Avenue Camborne, TR14 8SX or sent via the council's website www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/ A detailed planning application will be submitted at a later date, depending on the success of this one.