It was third time lucky for St Michael's Hotel owner Nigel Carpenter when revised proposals to build a seven bed apartment block next door to the iconic Captain's House were finally recommended for approval by Falmouth councillors.

At a meeting of Falmouth Town Council's planning committee last week, Mr Carpenter presented new designs for the site on Stracey Road.

In 2014 permission had been granted for the Captain's House to be demolished. However revised plans had been made to keep and refurbish the Captain's House with luxury hotel bedrooms and build a 14-bed apartment block on the site of the former Tremor site next to it. This had been rejected. A proposal for nine apartment block had also been rejected over concerns about parking and overlooking of Abbeyfield Care Home next door.

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The new application said Mr Carpenter reduced the number of apartments from nine to seven.

"We have gone away scaled it down significantly," he told the committee via Zoom. "It is 27% area less than it was. We have removed a whole floor of the new development and it's now just seven apartments instead of the previous nine. It was 14 before that.

"Length and height has been reduced and considerable attention has been put in to ensure that Abbeyfield Care Home is not overlooked. There is parking for each apartment and I hope it will be acceptable."

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Picture Poynton Bradbury Architects

The case officer reported that the new proposals addressed concerns in respect to previous scheme.

Coun John Spargo acknowledged that most of the issues had been dealt with, the overlooking, the parking and it's a smaller size, but he said the one problem he had with it was that it "just doesn't look right",

"It's quite disappointing that Poynton Bradbury, with a fantastic reputation as architects, have come up with what is pretty dismal I think," he said.

"It's just so bland it's unbelievable. The elevation just looks so bad and I disagree with the cladding. It should be rendered. The cladding's too much all over the building. It doesn't blend in.

"I am really disappointed that an architect of that quality came back with something that is really bland. I feel Nigel's money is going to be wasted if he goes ahead and builds that. We all want the best looking building there and I think they haven't got it.

However, Falmouth mayor Coun Steve Eva disagreed with Mr Spargo saying he quite liked the design.

"I quite like new and old next to each other," he said. "I can see where John's coming from but that's a personal view of it. I don't see that's a reason to refuse. Got old croft building so this would blend in with that. They've gone away done what they have been asked and it's reached stage I could support it."

The application has had ten letters of objection including one from Falmouth Civic Society.

Despite this councillors voted to recommend for approval. Mr Spargo voted against. It will now go to Cornwall Council to decide on.