Plans have been unveiled for a new mixed-use development on the Ponsharden industrial estate featuring a seven storey building with 500 student bed spaces, retail units, residential apartments, and a hotel.

If plans go ahead and the development is built, it will also include 220 parking spaces for students, residents, and hotel guests.

The area near the former Vospers site has been earmarked for development for several years, with plans for a 300 home residential development on the adjacent plot of land first submitted in 2016. Before that, applications had been made by previous owners Sainsburys to build their largest store in Cornwall at Ponsharden, but the company instead decided not to go ahead with the plan and announced in March 2017 that they would be selling the land.

There are currently 13 bids for the site, and London-based Curlew Alternative Asset Management (Curlew) is the preferred bidder.

In a design statement, Curlew's agents WYG said: “The site is one which is inherently suitable for redevelopment. The redevelopment would make a valuable contribution to meeting both general and specialised housing needs on a sustainable and accessible site."

The development will be located next to the historically significant Jewish and Congregational graveyards, which have been recognised as important parts of British religious heritage alongside Stonehenge and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

WYG said: “The planning history identified that large scale retail development of the site has been found to be acceptable in the past. Mixed use development is recognised as creating healthy, diverse and inclusive communities.”

The residential and commercial parts of the site would be separated with different entrances for each, and there will be a green corridor that runs in between the buildings.

Cornwall Council had previously identified the land as suitable for student accommodation, and last month Falmouth University said the site could possibly be used to house students.

According to WYG, although the number of beds that have permission or will likely be approved exceeds the 2,500 that the university said it needed for the next eight years, most of them are for first year students whilst this new development will be mainly for second and third years.