70 homes Porthleven new life for Falmouth Art Deco building

Every week more than 100 applications are validated by Cornwall Council and we have selected some of the more interesting proposals.

All planning applications submitted to the council have to be validated and are available for inspection by the public. Anyone is also allowed to submit comments about the applications – whether in support or objection.

The majority of applications are decided by planning officers at the council under delegated powers. However, some applications will go before elected councillors who sit on planning committees. No dates have been set for when the planning applications below will be determined. They can be viewed by going to the planning portal on Cornwall Council’s website.

The area where the homes in Porthleven will be (Image: Robertson Developments Ltd/CC)

Proposal for 70 homes, Porthleven Robertson Developments Ltd has lodged a full pre-application for a residential development on 3.685 hectares of land on the north-eastern edge of Porthleven town, off Wellington Road. The proposal is for 70 dwellings including a mix of open market and 30% affordable units (21) for rent and shared ownership.

The proposals have been informed by an assessment of constraints, opportunities, the Porthleven Neighbourhood Local Plan, and how the site can be linked “seamlessly to the community of Porthleven as well as respecting the surrounding AONB, with limited impact on the skyline”.

The fields at Porthleven (Image: Robertson Developments Ltd/CC)

The site consists of three existing fields, which are agricultural land. To the west of the site is the existing Gibson Way housing estate.

Cornwall Council’s Education and Early Years Service has asked for a planning obligation towards the provision of additional or improved school places or school facilities in the area, due to the infrastructure impact it may have on nearby Porthleven CP School and Helston Community College.

The NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB) has also noted the impact it may have on local services, namely the Porthleven Surgery, Helston Medical Centre and Meneage Street Surgery in Helston. It states: “The practices named above are already significantly under capacity as a result of the cumulative impact of development in Helston and are currently lacking sufficient clinical and administrative space to attend to the needs of this growing population. This development of 49 dwellings (excluding 21 affordable dwellings) could generate an additional 113 residents and subsequently increase demand upon existing services even further.”

Extension of care home, St Agnes Cornwallis Care Services Ltd, which runs Karenza Care Home, at Rosemundy, St Agnes, has applied to build a two-storey 38-bedroom extension and internal changes to the existing care home with associated car parking and landscaping works to help meet the demand in Cornwall for extra care beds.

Karenza Nursing Home currently provides 24-hour nursing care for 22 residents. The proposed development comprises 38 beds within a two-storey extension plus a small kitchen extension and internal works to enlarge the laundry room and create a new day room overlooking a landscaped courtyard. The total number of care beds to be provided on site will equate to 53, accounting for some lost due to reconfiguration.

The proposals are driven by the demands for additional care bed space to relieve the pressure on local hospitals and the NHS, especially following the impact of Covid 19. Cornwallis Care Services Ltd was approached by Cornwall Council and the NHS to see if it could find any vacant properties within its portfolio that would be suitable to meet these needs. The provision of an additional 33 care beds (net gain) will contribute significantly towards the delivery of 2,550 bed spaces required in communal establishments for older people, including nursing homes, outlined in Cornwall Council policy.

New life for Art Deco building, Falmouth Pre-application advice has been sought for the demolition of semi-derelict rear section of an Art Deco building in Falmouth town centre and its replacement with two residential units. The front of the building on High Street would be used as a retail unit and for parking Known for its Art Deco street frontage the building has been empty and unmaintained for more than ten years.

The art-deco building in High Street, Falmouth (Image: LDR)

The building comprises two distinct sections, at the front the original building dating back to the 1800s remains structurally sound. The rear section is open to the elements at roof level and, as a result, the building has severe water damage to the extent that the two floor levels have partially collapsed inside.

The current building has been in the applicant’s ownership for just over two years, during which time all forms of commercial enterprise have been investigated, but the level of rent anticipated doesn’t justify the expenditure required to bring the building back to a usable state.

The applicant now seeks pre-planning advice for the use of the site as residential. The proposal would be to utilise the existing ground floor of the front section as car parking for two residential flats or maisonettes that would be located in the newly reconstructed rear section. A third car parking space and lift would be provided for the use of the residential property behind known as Britons Slip, which is also within the applicant’s ownership.

The site has previously been used as a garage and an internal turntable would allow vehicles to enter and leave the site in forward gear and pedestrian access would also be created. The revenue generated by residential use would allow the lower ground floor to be used as a retail space accessed of the public ope to the side.

Glamping site, near Truro A proposal has been lodged to create a glamping site, including up to ten bell tents and a shower/toilet facility, on land adjacent to Acland Cottage, Three Burrows, Blackwater, near Truro.

The applicant’s intention is to deliver “a more attractive and sensitive development scheme than one which might ordinarily involve the placing of static caravans on the land which, although may be well suited to other locations in Cornwall, was not the aspiration here. Notably, it is also the intention here that the bell tents be taken down at the end of the holiday season, stored on site and then re-erected at the beginning of the clement weather. This will ensure that the tents are protected and the land is allowed to regenerate between seasons”.

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Amendements to homes planned near St Austell Blakesley Estates Ltd has applied to amend the layout of ten homes given permission in 2017 to be built on land south east of Rashleigh Road, Duporth, near St Austell.

The additional details have been provided to “enable the expedient delivery of ten homes at a time of housing crisis within Cornwall and a site at the present time that is visually blighting the residential context”. The applicant says it has been in discussion with neighbours of the development site in regard to the changes proposed and no adverse comments have been received.

Cornwall Council’s Education and Early Years Service has asked for a planning obligation towards the provision of additional or improved school places or school facilities in the area, showing that nearby Charlestown Primary School is near capacity and St Austell’s Penrice Academy is over-subscribed.

New houses, Goonhavern A pre-application has been received for council advice about a proposal for five new homes to be built on land at Carn Moor, Goonhavern. The site lies near a 61-dwelling residential development. The applicants state the site, mostly garden area, has been chosen to avoid any flooding land and to achieve the least impact within what is a County Wildlife Site.