Falmouth Town Council has no intention of putting Ships and Castles leisure centre forward as a potential brownfield development site, the town clerk has said.

Members of the public had become concerned that the leisure centre, which faces costly maintenance work to remain open, could be sold off and used to meet housing demands.

Town clerk Mark Williams said recent talk of the council nominating Ships and Castles as brownfield probably arose from someone's misunderstanding two separate discussions during a council meeting; one around the emerging Neighbourhood Plan and the other a request for councillors to identify potential brownfield sites.

However Cornwall Council may still have other plans, with discussions on the future of the site to be discussed on Wednesday including a potential closure and sale.

Mr Williams said: "Lot's of residents have commented on the land allocations [in the neighbourhood plan]. And residents commented on the future of Ships and Castles."

There was also a discussion on Cornwall Council's request to identify brownfield sites.

Mr Williams said: "Arwenack didn't identify Ships and Castles as a site. There might have been a throwaway comment.

"I would be amazed if Ships and Castles was identified by the council as a brownfield site."

Angela Beale, secretary of Falmouth Conservation Society, described the centre as a "community asset, surrounded by a historic, green landscape.

She expressed concern that the headland, home to Falmouth's "greatest historic monument" was being "encroached upon, with land at Middlepoint up for sale, and planning permission being sought for 35 apartments, and cast doubt on whether any homes built there would be affordable "for ordinary people."

She added: "Many visitors approach Falmouth from the water. Will they really want to return if the skyline of Pendennis is dotted with high-rise apartments?"

Although it appears Falmouth's leisure centre will not be earmarked as brownfield, it does face an uncertain future with a recent Cornwall Council review finding a maintenance backlog requiring £1.7 million of work, of which 90 per cent, or £1.5 million, is deemed to be essential. This is set against a £4 million maintenance budget across the council's leisure portfolio.

A plan of the site drawn up at the same time highlights the land on which the centre sits, part of a large section of Pendennis headland owned by Cornwall Council, with a note valuing the site at £1.6 to £2.2 million for "an alternative use/ development."

At the cabinet's next meeting on Wednesday, September 2, a discussion on the fate of the centre includes three recommended options: Closing the centre, paying a one off compensation claim of around £350,000 to operators Tempus Leisure and £100,000 a year in security and empty rates costs; keeping the centre open, without addressing the high risk of critical systems failure, at a cost of £722,000; or keeping the centre open, addressing the risk of critical systems failure, costing £1.549 million.

The request for town councillors to identify brownfield sites is part of Cornwall Council's Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), looking to identify previously built-on sites which can be repurposed in line with the government's Housing Bill proposals.

These proposal would see any land identified as brownfield qualifying for automatic planning permission.

The council, along with others across the county, have until September 7 to register any sites.