Claim new homes would 'swamp' Lowertown (From Falmouth Packet)

Claim new homes would 'swamp' Lowertown

1:00pm Wednesday 29th August 2012 in Helston

An application to build eight homes on land at Lowertown is currently under consultation.

Messrs Puckey and Mr D Towler want to build four single-storey affordable homes and four two-storey homes to be sold on the open market, together with vehicle access, on land adjacent to Granite Court.

They have submitted an outline planning application with the aim of determining how the site should be accessed. They intend to submit a more detailed application about the homes themselves at a later date.

In a report prepared by agent Stephen Bott, it is stated that the triangular shaped piece of land intended for the development has been disused for many years and is surrounded by existing developments on three sides.

The plans show two of the homes “lowered” into the site to reduce the floor levels and ridge heights, in a bid to minimise the impact of the development in the area.

It is planned for three of the four open market homes to be lived in by the applicants. Sarah Puckey (nee Heims) and her brother Mark Heims were brought up in Lowertown and went to schools in the area. The application states they want to live in two of the homes to be nearer to their elderly father David Heims, who already lives nearby in Lowertown.

The third applicant, Mr D Towler, currently lives in Lowertown but wants to move to one of the new homes. It is also stated: “The significant gap between Lowertown and Helston will still remain if the application development proceeds.

“The scale, density and pattern of the proposed development are consistent with nearby existing residential development in Lowertown.”

Mr Bott has added: “The proposed development would meet a significant local need for affordable housing and would assist in addressing the council’s shortfall in such provision.

“The open market housing in the development is necessary to secure viability.”

Neighbours have until September 18 to give their views, with the aim of determining the application on October 18.

When the development was first mooted back in March there was an outcry, with the Lowertown Community Group preparing to fight the plan. Chairman Mike Hales said both Lowertown residents and some Gwarth An Drea residents were against the proposal, describing it as “quite overwhelming.”

He spoke of the “natural” barrier between Lowertown in the Cober Valley and Helston on the plateau above, claiming the development would “leap-frog the barrier” and “swamp” the village. There was also the fear any development would “open the door to Helston overwhelming our quiet rural community.”