Concerns have been raised over Cornwall Council’s plans to redevelop a car park on the Penzance seafront, which could impact on views of St Michael’s Mount, increase local flood risk and result in permanent harm to the Conservation Area.

Planning Issues, an in-house planning and design consultancy for Churchill Retirement Living, which has a development neighbouring the car park, has provided the council with detailed evidence as to why it says the car park Site Allocations Plan is not viable.

Andrew Burgess, managing director of Planning Issues, said: “Cornwall Council have published a Site Allocations Plan as part of their Local Plan which proposes redeveloping the Penzance Harbour car park on Wharf Road. We believe this proposal is fundamentally flawed for a number of reasons.

“The proposal would result in permanent harm to the conservation area and important views across the water to St Michael’s Mount. It could also cause potential significant flooding issues.

“We believe it to be economically unviable, since there is no demand for additional retail or offices in Penzance and any new development could undermine the already vulnerable shops in the existing shopping area.

“The allocation requires significant investment in sea wall defences and funding is expected from Europe. However, it is unclear if this has been secured especially as Britain is leaving the European Union.

“Finally, it undermines the Neighbourhood Development Plan process that Penzance locals are actively progressing with. We therefore strongly believe that Penzance should be removed from the Site Allocation Development Plan Document (DPD) and that this proposal should be withdrawn.”