Plans to build a new house in a small hamlet have been approved despite concerns that the plot is within the Cornwall World Heritage Site.

Cornwall Council planning officers had recommended that the plans for the site near Praze-an-Beeble should be refused.

The officers said that the fact that the site is in the open countryside and was on the World Heritage Site (WHS) outweighed any benefits that the outline planning application might have. In a report councillors were told that the site may have been the location of a mineworkers’ smallholding and that there had been insufficient work done to establish whether any development might harm the WHS.

Crowan Parish Council had supported the application and said that as there were other homes either side of the proposed site it should be considered to be “infill”.

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Applicant Laura Lowther-Harris said that she had family members who had lived in the area for some time and said she had bought the land as she “hated the thought of it going on the open market as we had fond memories of it in our youth”.

She explained that a medical condition had meant that she had been unable to continue her career and said that her family was struggling financially, and that being able to provide themselves a home on the plot would “remove a massive financial burden”.

The site at Horsedowns, near Praze-an-Beeble which has been granted outline planning permission for a new home (Image: Google)

The site at Horsedowns, near Praze-an-Beeble which has been granted outline planning permission for a new home (Image: Google)

Mrs Lowther-Harris said that the new property would be a home for her family and would not be for “making any quick money”.

She said that she did not consider that it was in open countryside as it was the “only plot in the lane that doesn’t have a property on it” and said any new home would match those on either side and said they wanted to ensure their new home was “in keeping as much as possible”.

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The planning application was for outline permission with the design of any new home subject to a further planning application. Councillors asked what kind of home Mrs Lowther-Harris thought might be built and she said it was likely to be a dormer bungalow.

Local Cornwall councillor Loveday Jenkin supported the application and agreed with the parish council that it should be considered to be infill. She said that the site was in an accessible location and would be sustainable.

Outline planning permission was granted with the committee voting nine in favour and one against.