A housing developer is to spend £88,000 towards improving facilities in Falmouth as work gets underway on a new development of 94 homes.

As part of its planning agreement to build off Bickland Water Road, Taylor Wimpey is to pay out £73,000 in creating a shared cycle path and pedestrian route running alongside the main road adjacent to the housing site.

A further £15,000 is being set aside for the Fal and Helford Special Area of Conservation, just over a mile away from the development.

The contribution will go towards the management of the area, with the company saying it "will help address and mitigate any impacts of additional recreational use that the homes create."

Developers will also create new public open spaces within the Chy An Dowr development, as well as a sustainable drainage system designed to make sure rainwater travels into the local drainage network without affecting homes and businesses.

Work on the development has already begun. Of the 94 new homes, 33 will be classed as affordable. These will be split as 70 per cent available to rent and 30 per cent sold as shared ownership.

Ten per cent of the rented dwellings will be built in line with the Lifetime Homes Standard, which states that they must be easily adaptable for lifetime use, taking into account factors such as accessible bathrooms, size of doorways and width of parking areas.

Chy An Dowr will be made up of two, three and four-bedroom homes with the intention of catering for first time buyers through to growing families.

Richard Harrison, land and planning director for Taylor Wimpey Exeter, said: “We are committed to building high-quality new homes and making sure that our developments are sustainable and positively contribute to local communities.

"Affordable housing, sustainable transport and community facilities are all among the areas that benefit from planning contributions, and we are proud to be providing these facilities as part of our Chy An Dowr development.”