Planning Cornwall: Cornish town ‘deserves better’ than proposed housing development

A proposal to demolish a fire-damaged farm and replace it with 32 homes has come under fire at a Cornwall Council planning meeting today (Monday, June 24). Councilors raised concerns about the loss of trees and green space and the effect a housing development would have on the character of the World Heritage Site (WHS), which surrounds the land.

Local builder Kevin Penrose has applied to demolish Church View Farmhouse on Church View Road, Camborne, and replace it with the 32 homes, which would include seven “affordable” properties along with access, roads and net development gain territory/biodiversity.

The matter was discussed by the council’s western area planning meeting after objections were received from Camborne Town Council and Historic England, who said the development would be “very damaging” to the character of the World Heritage mining site in the area Nearby Tuckingmill. The organization opposed the proposal unless “substantial changes” were made to the scheme. The meeting heard that WHS was not opposed to the development, but opposed to this particular scheme.

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Planning officer Martin Jose told the meeting that the farmhouse, which has no roof, is beyond repair. While there were concerns about the redevelopment in close proximity to the WHS and largely in the conservation area, he said the benefits of the scheme in terms of affordable housing and housing in general weighed in the balance of approval.

With Historic England opposed, Mr Jose advised that the application would have to be approved by the Secretary of State if the committee agreed.

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A representative from Camborne Town Council told councillors: “As we know, Camborne is in desperate need of housing, but the right kind of affordable housing. There are many concerns in the area that this would add increased demand to our already stretched doctors’ surgeries and this will have a knock-on effect for the people of Camborne.”

Applicant Kevin Penrose – who was born and bred in Cornwall and worked at South Crofty until the mine closed in 1998 – said: “I’m a small builder and I’m committed to providing an open market and affordable housing to meet local housing needs in Camborne.

“We have worked extensively with planning officers on layout and design and to fully mitigate the impact of the development, particularly in relation to heritage issues. As to the objection from Historic England, it has been amply demonstrated that the fire-damaged farm is beyond economic repair. In this context, the position taken by Historic England is simply unsustainable and will make any housing development on the site completely unviable.”

Mr Penrose said the proposal fully respected the character of Tuckingmill.

During the debate, Cllr Loveday Jenkin said: “No one is against the principle of development on this site, but there are questions about the design and whether it provides the expected public benefit. The lack of parking and the lack of green space concerns me.

“This is one of the green corridors that go through this area and we need to make sure that there is still a continuation of the green corridors that go through these areas so that we don’t end up with too much urbanization because that doesn’t create good communities and spaces good for people to live”.

He had concerns about losing mature trees to the development.

Cllr John Thomas added: “I think they are putting too much into the space. There needs to be more open space and biodiversity. I think there should be a reduction in the size of the development.”

Cllr Sally Anne Weedon agreed: “The design is not suitable for that particular area. It seems too crowded. The site will probably be developed, but I think it can be done in a more sympathetic way.” Cllr Mike Thomas was succinct in his opposition: “I think Camborne deserves more than this.”

The committee unanimously agreed to refuse the application on the grounds that the development was detrimental to the character and appearance of the conservation area and its universal World Heritage value. Councilors believed that the benefits of the scheme were limited and did not go beyond heritage assets.