Developers with plans for more than 200 houses on green fields in Penryn have been accused of lying and told to go back and rethink their plans by town councillors.

Walker Developments, which owns land at College Valley and Hill Head in Penryn, was returning to the town council to present their latest plans for the area after a similar scheme last year led to a series of protests.

But town councillors felt they had been deceived after the company announced plans to put 70 houses in the lower fields below College Hill, when last year they believed development in that area would be withdrawn from the plans.

To applause from residents gathered in the meeting at the Temperance Hall, Councillor Mary May said she was "gobsmacked" at the plans.

She said: "We've listened to you, you haven't listened to us, and I want to know why.

"Saying you don't know about the bottom three fields, I'm just so disappointed. It's a blatant lie. We sat in the council chamber and you said you would consider taking back one-third to two-thirds of those fields."

Mrs May also said the company would not deliver on the 35 per cent affordable housing it was forecasting for the site, and added: "I suggest you go back to this... and come back when you've taken on board what we asked you to."

The mayor, Councillor Mark Snowdon, said building on the bottom fields would affect the setting of "one of the most iconic views the town has," the railway viaduct.

Mr Snowdon said both he and Mrs May had been under the impression that permission for Walker Developments to build more mixed use properties at its Kernick site had been in return for leaving the bottom fields at College Valley untouched.

He added: "I'm really disappointed that you have come back after that was received and put in another 65 to 70 units on those bottom fields, which to me is the valley."

Mark Scoot, representing Walker Developments, denied that there had ever been any agreement.

Councillor John Langan asked why the affordable housing contribution had gone down from 40 per cent to 35 per cent while the number of houses had gone up from 230 to 245, to which Mr Scoot replied that the affordable housing requirement set by Cornwall Council had gone down and "nobody would thank us" for offering more than that. Mr Langan told him: "Someone would thank you."

Mr Langan also asked about green provision, as the developer is offering to turn part of the greenfield site into public open space for the town.

Mr Scoot said Walker Developments had approached South West Lakes Trust and South West Water, which currently own land between the valley and the reservoirs at the top of the town, about providing a green corridor through the valley. He said it would also discuss the option of the trust managing the land, to which Mr Langan replied that the trust "have not been much use to us" and had "locked off" the land, and the town council would prefer to manage it.

Richard Walker, owner of Walker Developments, said the important thing is that "the land is protected... for the town."

The outline proposals presented by the company on Tuesday evening will be submitted to planning officers in three stages: the first for around 175 homes at Hillhead and 65 to70 units at College Hill will be submitted in within months, and another for 80 homes at Kernick to be submitted within the year.

In return, the company is offering 35 per cent affordable housing, and the"formalising" of walking routes and access to the green space in the valley, as well as allotments. It has also said it could provide more parking and access to businesses located at the Mill Yard on College Hill, the one site in the plan not owned by Richard Walker.

Access for the roughly 500 cars at the site would all be via Hill Head, and the company has said it will investigate the possibility of "formalising" parking for residents on that road, as well as creating a footpath for children from the development to reach Falmouth School.