Connor Downs

1.  Reported in the West Briton 11th February 2010

 A PLANNING appeal has been lodged against councillors’ refusal to allow 11 affordable homes to be built at Connor Downs.

Truro-based THF Ltd is continu­ing to seek approval for its scheme on a greenfield site adjacent to Arundel Court. “We believe we have excellent grounds for appeal,” said director Paul Stephens. “The scheme was rejected even though the planning officer had recommended it for approval and concluded that it fully complied with the council’s adopted plan­ning policies.

Overruling their officers, mem­bers of Cornwall Council’s area planning committee voted unanimously against the develop­ment. Councillors sided with local res­idents.

They objected to building on ag­ricultural land and claimed there were better sites for development in the village.

Mr Stephens said the decision meant local people wanting to live in the village must now wait longer. “THF will be seeking an order for costs against the council.”One might reasonably ask what is the point of a council having officers if their advice is going to be ignored?”

Mr Stephens added: “It is quite conceivable that local home-seekers will lose out twice over if the general market continues to pick up in the meantime-.”

He estimated that, even allowing for a successful appeal, the project had now been set back by at least six months.

THF completed its first project, at Hayle, two years ago.

At a ceremony to mark the Hayle completion, Lady Mary Holborow, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, warmly praised the concept. She said then she hoped it would be replicated elsewhere in Corn­wall.

 BY TA: Mr Stephens questions why Councillors on the planning committee decided not to accept the recommendations of the planning offers and asks what is the point of having planning officers if their recommendations are not followed. There is an obvious concept here that Mr Stephens has not managed to grasp so we will try to explain.

The planning officers make a recommendation which the elected representatives on the planning committee consider. It is not there to rubber stamp the recommendations but to also to consider the situation with regards to the people whom they represent, the existing local residents. In this case, having considered all the facts, they have found that the planned build on greenfield land is inappropriate, unnecessary and unwanted. The process is called democracy and is should be noted that the elected members are not there to simply agree every plan put forward by developers to concrete over Cornwall for their own financial gain.

There are occasions when TA has bitterly opposed the decisions of the planning committee, but in this case we feel that they are to be applauded.

For daring not to grant planning permission is seems that Stephens will now attempt an appeal and attempt to recover costs from the Cornish ratepayer. He obviously feels that this threat will convince Councillors not to challenge the appeal. The local electorate will not change their viewpoint and it would follow that there is no grounds the planning committee to do so.

Were we elected planning committee members we would be taking a pretty dim view of the implied threat to ratepayers and the bully tactics of Mt Stephens suggesting that the recommendations of the planning officers should be agreed without taking into account any other considerations.

Mr Stephens company, THF Homes, intend that their next target is to be another area of Greenfield land at West Tolgus, where again it would seem that local residents are opposed to the idea. They have put together a raft of information as to why this plan is also inappropriate, unnecessary and unwanted and TA have already written to Cornwall Council suggesting that this is another planned build which should not proceed.


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