Cornwall planning: Decision to be made on 'monstrous' proposal for 274 homes

Changes to a plan to build 274 homes, which has previously been dubbed "utter madness" and "monstrous", will be decided at County Hall next week. An extraordinary meeting of Cornwall Council's strategic planning committee will meet on Thursday, July 11, to discuss the controversial development on land at Dudman Farm on the outskirts of Truro.

The application by Wain Homes seeks reserved matters consent to include access, layout and landscaping, following outline approval for “up to 275 dwellings” on the site which is in a valley near the Highertown and Penweathers areas of the city. The development would be accessed from Navigator Way and Carrine Road, and then join the A390.

Planning officer James Moseley recommends approval subject to conditions. The scheme has undergone a number of negotiated amendments in light of initial feedback and is now considered acceptable, according to the council's planning department.

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An online petition opposing the development received over 1,000 signatures and there is growing opposition to the revised proposals on Cornwall Council's online planning portal, where there are over 120 comments from members of the public.

Cornwall councillor Rob Nolan, who represents Truro Boscawen and Redannick division, told us: "When outline planning permission was given back in 2014 [the neighbouring] Pen an Dre estate didn’t really exist, so residents weren’t able to say what they thought about hundreds of extra vehicles using their estate road to access the new development. Worse still the road runs past the Pen an Dre children’s play area, where there are already concerns for children’s safety crossing the road.

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"Residents of Carrine Road are no happier with their estate also getting extra traffic. This is a steeply sloping site, where we already have issues with flooding and run-off.

"Why not send these applicants over to Langarth, where the council has permission for over 4,000 houses and are building the roads, sewerage and providing quality infrastructure? Surely that should be developed before we build over a beautiful valley site like this one?"

Truro City Council recommended refusal at a meeting last month on the grounds of "overdevelopment of a difficult site, some of the properties only just meet the minimum space standard, it is not good design, the affordable housing and sale to rent ratios are not up to policy requirements, impacts on flora and fauna and the impact on traffic when operational".

Kenwyn Parish Council has also objected for a number of similar reasons, noting a lack of public consultation.

A planning report for next week's committee meeting states: "There is not considered to be any demonstrable, overriding harm identified within the reserved matters details supplied. While there are some concerns over the layout, the level of harm is not considered so significant as to outweigh the social and economic benefits of a housing scheme in an accessible location which will make a significant contribution to housing supply."

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The development would be divided into two halves - Dudman East will include 199 houses, with Dudman West including 75. The two areas are separated by an area of public open space, which includes a number of trees, while the separating space also hosts proposed drainage infrastructure.

An early years play facility is proposed in Dudman West, while additional drainage infrastructure in the form of an infiltration basin is located to the west of Dudman West. The proposal includes 90 affordable homes, split into 39 shared ownership and 51 affordable rent.

The matter will be discussed at 10am on July 11 at County Hall / Lys Kernow in Truro.