Cornwall councillors have approved a plan to build a large house on the site of a bird of prey breeding facility, despite objections from the local town council and Cornwall National Landscape.

Both bodies believed the proposed house at Raptors of Penwith, a bird of prey centre near St Just in Cornwall, was over-development and would cause harm to the West Penwith International Dark Sky Park and the protected landscape.

Martin Nicholas, of the falcon / bird of prey centre in the small hamlet of Bosavern, St Just, applied for planning permission to build a two-storey house on the site alongside the extension of an existing office building.

A meeting of Cornwall Council’s west area planning committee heard on Tuesday that the proposal had been recommended for approval by the authority’s planning department despite the objections.

A spokesperson for Cornwall National Landscape, formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), said the combination of the house’s height and “sprawling depth and bulk” would form a “conspicuous new presence” adjacent to the B3306, a lane along the Cot Valley and the local network of Public Rights of Way.

It also stated that its glazing would have a detrimental effect on the West Penwith International Dark Sky Park, protected for the quality of its starry nights.

St Just-in-Penwith Town Council supported the Cornwall National Landscape’s view “that this is over-development of the site and that its form has the potential to harm, not enhance, our special designated landscape”.

Local Cornwall councillor Brian Clemens told members: “Sometimes you get an application that is almost impossible to determine. We couldn’t come to an agreement between the town council and the applicant, and I felt the most sensible and fair way was to call it to committee.”

Case officer Adam Carlyon explained why the proposal had been recommended for approval. “Whilst the concerns of St Just-in-Penwith Town Council and the Cornwall National Landscape officer are understood, it is considered that the proposal would suitably round-off the northern edge of the hamlet of Bosavern, and would, following a reduction in the amount of glazing in the west elevation of the proposed dwelling, integrate successfully into the form and character of the settlement and conserve the landscape and scenic beauty of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”

The committee heard that owing to the nature and value of the bird-breeding business, the applicant felt there was a need to live close to the site for security reasons. There was no public opposition to the application.

Cllr Loveday Jenkin raised concerns about the size of the house. Mr Carlyon agreed it would be one of the largest properties in Bosavern, but said its design and massing, and the fact it would be set into the ground, meant the property would sit comfortably next to existing agricultural buildings. The proposal was approved by nine votes to two.