The architects working on plans to build nearly 300 homes on church commissioners' land between Falmouth and Penryn have said they could add more small units if wanted, but it would impact parking.

JTP architects, which is working with the Church Commissioners of England on plans for a new estate running alongside the A39 from near Ponsharden to the Hill Head roundabout, held a public consultation exercise at the Falmouth Rugby Club on Wednesday afternoon where they revealed the outline plans for the space.

The proposed development would cover current green fields either side of the Maritime Line, with road access from the Hill Head roundabout, and a new bridge for traffic to cross the railway. Early draft plans consist of 48 units in three-storey blocks of flats, 46 homes in short terraces, as well as 116 semi-detached and 89 detached houses.

Graeme Phillips of JTP told the Packet that although the plans currently show more large family homes than smaller units, the mix could be changed if that was preferred by by planners or by locals - smaller units being those identified as most at need in the local area.

He said: "We're doing this for the Church Commissioners - they're not a house builder... a house builder may try and propose a higher number of large detached properties.

"It could be a higher number, we could easily get more on, and interestingly we've spoken to a number of people who have asked if we could."

However, he added that while there would currently be sufficient allocated parking for all the apartments and terraces, with driveways for the houses, adding more units could lead to a shortage of spaces for residents.

He said that although the Church Commissioners' land extends beyond the proposed site, it was decided early on "that this should be promoted as an extension to Falmouth, to meet up with the facilities to the south," and to "try to do something that jumps the A39" would be "not appropriate."

The plans allow for 35 per cent affordable housing - the minimum requirement according to planning regulations - although members of the Save Our Falmouth campaign group present at the meeting questioned that validity of this.

They questioned the definition of affordable, which is determined by local market value and can be skewed by second homes and other factors, often seen to be placing it out of the range of local families' budgets. And they also questioned whether the 35 per cent would actually be delivered, as they any extra development costs such as landscaping the steep site or building the new bridge might be offset against the number of affordable homes to allow the developer to meet their own budget targets.

Mr Phillips told the Packet that as well as the affordable homes, there would be others which "whilst they may not be 'affordable' with a capital 'A', would hopefully... be affordable to a certain sector of society."

Mr Phillips also said that the homes would not harm views from Falmouth, and apart from those nearest the roundabout would not be visible from the A39 'gateway' to the town. However, the site would be visible from the Flushing side of the Penryn River, and the design would have to accommodate this as it was an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

JTP has said it is hoping to get a planning application submitted to Cornwall Council for September