FOUR new houses in a village have been approved in the face of strong local opposition.

The application by C Speed for land at Orchard Meadow in Hatt was debated at Cornwall’s East Planning Committee and approved by seven votes to two.

Eight residents of the nearby Carlton Villas had submitted a petition against the development. They say that the scheme had been turned down previously on safety grounds raised by Cornwall Housing because of the access along the road which serves their properties. They say that many of the residents here are elderly or disabled and that “extra traffic along this road with a blind corner will place their health in jeopardy”. Speaking to the meeting, representative Ann Williams said that the development would “destroy their wellbeing” and that they would now put in a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Botus Fleming Parish Council said that it had consistently been of the view that the development would not be a good thing for the parish or its residents, and gave a list of reasons.

“The Parish Council obviously accepts that planning departments have to follow guidelines, but it is our contention that they should also follow the principles of common sense.

“We have spent many hours reviewing the plans and meeting with the residents of Carlton Villas and those of Orchard Meadow. The lane is completely unsuitable and insufficient to deal with the increased traffic flow, emergency vehicle access or trucks that would be involved during a period of construction. The additional vehicles entering and leaving on a regular basis will undoubtedly produce a new risk.”

In addition to the access worries, there were further reasons for objection, said Botus Fleming Parish Council: none of the four houses would be affordable, and new residents of the houses would have to drive because of the lack of employment opportunities in Hatt.

“In 2018 Cornwall Council announced that the housing development target to be built by 2030 for the villages of Botus Fleming and Hatt was reduced to nil, due to the parish’s very poor infrastructure and amenities.”

Most concerning, said the council, was that outline permission to develop the plot had been granted “without having any right to legally access the land in order to build on it”.

The parish council mentioned that 1,000 new houses due to be built at nearby Treledan included affordable homes. Division member Cllr Martin Worth, who had called the application in to committee, said his “heart sank when he heard that we could send people to Treledan” as he felt that open market houses were also needed in the parish of Botus Fleming and that having properties with families enabled a community and its school to stay viable.

Case officer Shauna Vandermeulen had recommended the application be approved. Presenting the plans to the committee meeting, she said that the development was in a sustainable location in terms of planning policy, and that the highways officer had raised no objection: the scheme provided safe and suitable access, she said.