Children in Helston have issued a desperate plea to save their play park that is under threat of being covered in houses.

Coastline Housing wants to build bungalows on top of the land directly next to Beacon Parc play equipment, where scores of children play football and run around.

Dozens of people turned out for a protest at the park on Saturday, despite the pouring rain, in a display of anger at the plans.

Damien Willey, who lives in a Coastline house at Trengrouse Way, adjacent to Beacon Parc, told the Packet: “Beacon Parc is a unique play area. It is completely surrounded by housing, it is all overlooked at all times and nothing can happen in this park that will not be seen by somebody.

“We know our kids can come here and they are absolutely safe. There is no other play space in town like this – it’s special.”

He added that the land in question was the only place teenagers had to play football.

Approximately ten children, together with many more adults, attended a meeting of Helston Town Council last Thursday to beg members to recommend the planning application be thrown out.

One boy, Ethan, said: “Me and my brothers quite often, with a few friends, play football for two or three hours at a time. Without that there we would have to cross over a busy road and maybe take a 15 minute walk, just to play a game of football. I think that’s ridiculous.”

One man questioned whether it was right to build homes that would benefit only five people, when it would affect “30 to 40 kids” who played there regularly.

They had the support of Cornwall Councillor Judith Haycock, who lives nearby, who said she had received several phone calls from worried members of the public.

She told the town council’s planning committee: “It’s so important to the people that live in that area. The kick about area is used all the time.

“I think it’s one of the most popular play areas that is actually in Helston.”

Mrs Haycock was also concerned that the plans showed bungalows being built “right up to the edge” of the play equipment area.

“I don’t want, in the future, to have complaints about noise from the play park, because we want to encourage children to play outside as much as possible,” she added.

Town councillor Ronnie Williams attended the meeting in a personal capacity, as a resident of Beacon Parc. He said: “What is a community? It’s what Beacon Parc and everyone there represents. That’s why people are here tonight – to protect our community.”

Anna Sheppard, herself a Helston resident, spoke on behalf of Coastline Housing’s development team.

She said the intention was to build five one-bedroom bungalows for elderly people, in order to free up the family sized homes they were currently living in alone.

She stressed the play equipment would not be touched and the association hoped to create extra parking in that area, as residents had asked in recent public consultation.

Ms Sheppard said Cornwall Council had given Coastline permission to lift a covenant on the land in question, to allow for building, and told residents: “You’re all very used to the open space, but it is for much-needed new housing in Helston.”

Questioning Ms Sheppard, Helston’s mayor and a planning member, Mike Thomas, said: “Where do you advise the residents that their children should play?

“The [next] nearest play area is across a busy road, which is a wonderful place to go but it means children will have to go with an adult. There isn’t [otherwise] anywhere for them to go apart from in front of people’s houses, where perhaps they will cause a nuisance.”

Matt Ward, head of development at Coastline Housing, warned that the government fund that was to pay for this development was no longer issuing money to build homes to rent and it was “the last opportunity” for this area.

“This will be, for the foreseeable future, the last opportunity for us to provide some affordable housing for rent for old people in Helston,” he said.

Mr Ward added that Coastline considered the two green areas in front of people’s houses would provide safe space to play on.

However, the town’s planning committee voted unanimously to recommend the application be refused, on the grounds it would be a loss of open space that has existed for approximately 60 years, which would be “detrimental to the amenity of the area,” as well as the potential noise issues that the proposed properties could encounter as a result of children playing so close by.

Neighbours have until this Friday (February 12) to contact Cornwall Council with their views, with a decision due in March.