Plans for 35 luxury homes on Pendennis headland which were branded "oil tanks with windows" by one town councillor have been refused planning permission by Cornwall Council.

Proposals for land at Middlepoint, to the north of Pendennis Castle, were up before the council's central-sub area planning committee last week, where members voted to reject them - against planning officers' advice.

The company behind the plans, de Savary family owned Middlepoint Developments Ltd, had proposed demolishing existing oil tanks at the brownfield site and carrying out remediation work before building seven residential blocks and a building containing a swimming pool, tennis court and other facilities.

Case officer Peter Bainbridge had recommended approval, saying "substantial harm" to nearby historic buildings was "more than outweighed by the public benefits."

But the committee found that the development would cause "substantial harm to the settings and therefore the significance of the grade I listed buildings Pendennis Castle and St Mawes Castle."

The decision statement continues: "The public benefit of the remediation of a contaminated brownfield for housing and the economic benefit arising from the development would not outweigh the substantial harm."

It also stated: "Future occupiers of the proposed apartments are likely to suffer a loss of amenity because of noise and odour arising from the nearby sewage treatment works and docks. If permission was granted it could lead to complaints from residents leading to actions that could limit the future operation and expansion of the sewage works and docks."

The application had previously received objections from 65 members of the public on Cornwall Council's planning website, including concerns over the impact on the docks and on the setting of Pendennis Castle, as well as access and environmental issues. However, Falmouth Town Council raised no objections when the plans came before the town's planning committee.