Massive housing plan submitted joining Falmouth to Budock (From Falmouth Packet)

Massive housing plan submitted

6:00am Friday 12th October 2012 in News

A map showing the area, in red, which the proposed mixed use development will fill

PLANS for a massive housing development on land between Falmouth and Budock Water are set to be submitted to Cornwall Council.

A pre-planning application has been handed to the authority by CSA Architects acting on behalf of developers Magily Ltd.

The 100-acre site is situated to the west of Bickland Water Road, running from the footpath opposite Mongleath Road south to the boundary of the Pendra Loweth holiday park off Roscarrack Road.

CSA architects have refused to discuss the details of the scheme, although the pre-planning application to the council states it will be a “major urban expansion” and masterplan for the growth of Falmouth, to facilitate a major mixed use development on the western edge of the town.”

If it gets the go-ahead, the plans would fill in the border between the village of Budock Water and Falmouth, joining the two together for the first time.

Budock Parish Council chairman John Bastin said the news was not unexpected.

He said: “It would seem that the developers are prepared to take a risk because as of yet this land has not been designated for development.

“It will be the death knell for Budock Water and the coalescing of the village with Falmouth that I have predicted for some time will happen very quickly.”

Falmouth town councillor David Sterratt said he was worried by the speed at which developments were being pushed through the planning system.

He said: “This will happen eventually, but it is the pace of development in that area, there are already plans in for land just up from there.

“The pace is too quick, there is no thought going into this and they do not seem to care about what we want down here.

“If these were all going to be affordable homes that would benefit local families, we would welcome it, but it will not be that.”

Councillor Mike Varney, who represents the Boslowick ward in Falmouth and is chairman of the strategic planning committee at Cornwall Council said he had not heard anything about the plans.

He said: “These have not come across my desk yet.”

Councillor Mark Kaczmarek, Cornwall Council’s portfolio holder for housing, spoke this week of the need to be realistic over housing plans for the area.

He said: “When you look at Falmouth’s future growth, the objections are coming from people in Penryn and Budock Water, because the town cannot grow in any other direction, but Falmouth is one of the busiest towns in the south west.

“You have the university there, and if the dredging goes ahead, you will have a huge driver for new employment, and there is already a huge housing shortage there.”

He added: “We have to be sensible and responsible about this. “We could look at the situation and say Cornwall is full, and that any more building of houses would spoil the countryside, and we would be incredibly popular I am sure.

“We have to understand that the population is rising, and that the type of accommodation people want is changing, so we need new housing.”