Helston does not need to allocate any more land for housing between now and 2030 according to Cornwall Council's latest review of proposed developments.

The council has launched a public consultation on its Development Plan Document (DPD), which looks at where to place housing, industrial and commercial sites to meet local needs, and the accompanying report has shown that Helston is on target.

Between sites that have already been built or granted planning permission, the town is on track to reach the 1,200 extra homes the council is aiming for, and it is estimated that an extra 65 units will be built as well.

The report states: "The permitted development and completions deliver the vast majority of the housing growth targeted for Helston. Furthermore, when adding the anticipated development from windfall and other identified urban sites, this should more than cover the housing target for the town.

"As a result of this assessment it is not considered necessary to allocate any further sites for housing development."

As well as 1,200 houses, the DPD has set out targets for 12,417square metres of office space and 17,000 square metres of new industrial space, as part of plans to maintain and enhance the town's role as "a key service centre and gateway for the South Kerrier area."

Currently 13,300 square metres of employment space have been granted planning permission which has not been implemented, the majority of which is at Helston Business Park on Clodgey Lane, while an extension to Tresprison Industrial Park presents an opportunity for small scale industrial space. The council also hopes to safeguard existing sites at such as Tresprison, St John’s Business Park and Water-Ma-Trout Industrial Estate, with the latter marked as a Strategically Important Employment Site.

The document notes that Helston town centre's retail area is "valuable... but limited," and should be protected and enhanced, while Coinagehall Street and Meneage Street have mainly smaller units unlikely to attract national companies. The town has lost retail floorspace and turnover in recent years , but there is the possibility of providing 869square metres of convenience space and 721square metres of retail space by 2030.

The report states that while space for expansion is limited, there is support for better signage, pedestrian links, traffic management, and the enhancement of heritage and cultural assets, which could bring more people into the town centre.

The DPD also notes that extra houses will create demand for school places, and the town's three primaries will need an additional 120 by the end of the plan period. St Michael's has been marked to take the extra primary school pupils, while the council estimates that Helston Community College has enough space to cover the additional demand.

And it calculates that the increased population will require the equivalent of 0.8 extra GPs and another 120 square metres of healthcare space, which should be covered by a new medical facility at an approved development at Trenethick.

The council has also set targets for public open space provision, which is to be funded by developers, along with arrangements to ensure that it can be appropriately maintained.

A public consultation on the DPD will run for six weeks from Monday, October 3, and the deadline for response is Monday, November 14.

The document can be found at cornwall.gov.uk/allocationsplan, as can an online questionnaire.