Truro's MP has asked Eric Pickles to 'call in' Cornwall Council's decision to grant planning permission to the controversial Eastern District supermarket and housing development on farmland outside the city.

Truro and Falmouth MP Sarah Newton says she has made "urgent representations to the Department of Communities and Local Government", following a recent decision to give the plans the green light.

The proposed Truro Eastern District Development includes a Park and Ride scheme, a ‘Cornish Food Centre’, a recycling unit and a housing development.

The development, which raised a raft of protests from traders and many local representatives was proposed by a partnership that includes the Duchy for Cornwall and Cornwall Council itself.

The application was approved by Cornwall Council on the 8th March, amidst protest from people concerned by the scheme’s potential impact upon Truro and the surrounding countryside.

The decision is now being reviewed by the Department of Communities and Local Government’s National Planning Casework Unit.

The National Planning Casework Unit has the power to refer the decision to approve the application to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP.

Mrs Newton says she has passed on local objections and argued that, given the scale of local concern and the implications of approval, that the decision should be ‘called in’ for the Secretary of State’s to determine himself.

Mrs Newton said: "I am very much aware of the large amount of local concern about the decision to approve the TEDC application, and I feel strongly that that these objections should not be ignored.

"In order to ensure that these concerns are heard loud and clear as Cornwall Council’s decision is considered for referral to the Secretary of State, I have written to the National Planning Casework Unit passing on the concerns that have been expressed to me regarding the proposal.

"I am very grateful to the hundreds of local residents and Truro businesses that have written to me about this matter, it is clear that a great many people have serious concerns about the impact of the development upon our city.

"I have requested that the National Planning Casework Unit carefully consider these views, as they look closely at Cornwall Council’s decision to approve the application’