Concerned residents have slammed a hotel’s application to build ten homes in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) saying the proposal is no different from one only just refused.
Meudon Hotel between Mawnan Smith and Maenporth has again submitted a proposal to build ten homes along a ridge above woodlands along with a swimming pool, restaurant, gym and fitness suite in its grounds.
An earlier proposal to build ten "lodges", swimming pool, restaurant, gym and fitness suite was refused by Cornwall Council in September.
Nigel Chapman, chairman of Kingfisher Resorts which owns the hotel, said they had taken on board all the comments previously raised by the local community and key stakeholders and carefully reconsidered its proposals.
He said they had worked diligently to address all concerns and come up with a fresh approach, including a complete redesign of each unit.
The residences would be purchased by individuals as an investment and they will be leased back to the hotel for management and guest allocation purposes.
However a large group of residents, who got together last time to oppose the plans, say, apart from the height of the buildings being reduced, nothing much else has changed and the footprints of the houses are actually larger.
“We don’t see in these new proposals that anything has changed,” one resident told the Packet.
“Although some of the houses are scaled down the overall footprint is bigger, lower but wider.
“The fundamentals haven’t changed as to why it was roundly refused last time because of those fundamental issues about building in an AONB. There is just not exceptional circumstances to meet the public interest test.”
They said they absolutely want the hotel to succeed as they like eating, walking there and having coffee there but they don't want the houses built.
“We all want the hotel to thrive,” one of the residents told the Packet when it met the group at one of the resident's homes. “I think a lot of us in principle don’t have a problem with the hotel modernising and being a thriving successful business but it’s building houses and how they are doing it which is really nothing more than property investment."
They still they still concerns about the conservation field nearby which is included in the red line for development, although the hotel insists it will not build on it.
“It’s not about making the hotel viable it’s about extracting as much profit as possible from the land,” they said. “Building ten houses which nobody here would ever be allowed to do in this area because of how protected it is.
Currently there are about 78 objections to the application with the chance to make comments ending on March 10. The group want as many people as possible to comment on the application before it closes.
Resident Emily Johns said: “I was quite offended by the few supporting comments portraying the objectors as staid older people that have moved down who just don’t want change.
“Well I don’t want change. I have lived here all my life and I’m Cornish through and through and I don’t want change. That’s why it is protected to not change it.
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“That’s not a bad thing, it’s a positive thing that we don’t want change because that’s the whole point of the legislation that it’s got is to protect it and not change it so what does it mean if we can just change it?”
Mawnan Parish Council has already voted to recommend refusal of the application when it met on February 16.
The gardens were orginally planted by the Fox family. The hotel was originally owned by Harry Pilgrim who built the six bedroom Bream House in 1966 in the grounds for him and his family to live in which will be replaced with one of the proposed lodges.
You can comment on the application PA22/11402 here
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