EACH week, hundreds of planning applications come before Cornwall Council’s planning department, seeking to win approval for various plans right across the Duchy.

These plans can comprise of a number of different reasonings– ranging from permission to replace windows or listed building consent ranging up to large house building developments or changing of use of a building, for instance, from an office to a café, or flats.

Within this large and often complex system, there are a number of formats from which planning advice and approval can be sought.

These range from full applications where all the details which comprise a proposed development or work to a building are submitted, to outline applications, where further details are yet to be confirmed, for example, an outline application with reserved matters for appearance may not confirm the final proposed development but rather seek permission in principle.

An example of this is one for an outline permission for 20 dwellings on land with reserved matters for appearance and scale; the reserved matters would require further permission later for their inclusion.

Other types of applications include pre-application advice requests, where would-be developers submit often outline proposals to a local authority to ascertain whether it is likely to gain support or not prior to submitting a planning application.

The vast majority of applications are decided by planning officers employed by a local authority under ‘delegated powers’, meaning they do so on behalf of their employer, however, some applications are ‘called in’ by local councillors to be discussed at an area’s strategic planning committee meeting, meaning the final decision rests with a committee of councillors.

PA24/00546/PREAPP: A riverside house which was condemned after a landslip three years ago could be demolished to make way for a modern four-bedroom home. Tremayne House is based at Sandplace Road, St Martin in Looe, a town infamous for a number of land falls over the years.

Cornwall Council condemned the property, which contains two apartments over three floors, following the landslip in 2021. Architectural design company Sepia Projects , which is seeking pre-application design on behalf of the building’s owner, says it would cost over £1 million to repair Tremayne House, which is not a “viable economic option” given the land and building value.

It says the only solution for the site is to make it safe and deconstruct the house and its surrounds, ensuring the existing road, access path, trees and railway line are protected from further landslips over the next ten years.

In their application, the developers stated: “This proposal is a response to the condemnation notice applied by Cornwall Council on Tremayne House, further to the landslip the site and property experienced in 2021.

“The reinstatement costs to remedy the existing situation are unsustainable, and the only solution for the site is to make it safe and deconstruct the house and its surrounds, ensuring the existing road, access path, trees and railway line are protected from further and certain erosion over the next ten years.

“Our proposal outlines the opportunity to dovetail such safety measures into a new scheme for an environmentally friendly, highly energy efficient home that will sympathetically encompass the immediate ecological needs and building regulation requirements that will ensure the longevity of this important water fronting site.

The site is located on the west side of Sandplace Road, directly fronting the railway line and East Looe River. It is around half a mile north of the main town centre and has around a quarter an acre of woodland to the south.

The existing biodiversity of the site would be enhanced through tree and ground management, and “furthermore it will anchor back the rock faces from the road to ensure no further landslips take place. Additional measures promoting bird nesting, pollinating insects and bat residency will also be encouraged through careful design”.

The proposals are awaiting a response from Cornwall Council’s planning department.

PA24/02955: Cornwallis Care Services has submitted an outline planning application for a new care home on the grounds of an existing home, Hendra Court in Par. The plans were submitted by architectural practice Poynton Bradbury Architects on behalf of the company.

According to the Local Neighbourhood Plan, the parish of Tywardreath and Par has an ageing demographic with one in four residents living with a limiting, long-term illness. The new care home would increase the provision of high-quality residential care facilities in the area and help meet demand, says the applicant.

They told Cornwall Council: “The site is located in the Kilhallon area of Par, approximately 1 mile north of the centre of Par and 1 mile south east of St Blazey. It is accessed from a driveway off St Andrew’s Road. The St Andrew’s Road Pond & Nature Reserve is directly south of this access and the nearest beach (St Austell Bay) is 1 mile south of the site entrance application. The site area is approximately 1.4 hectares and there is a fall of approximately 25 metres from the north of the site boundary to the entrance driveway in the south. The proposed site is situated within the well established grounds of Hendra Court Care Home.

“It provides both nursing and residential care for up to 50 residents, the majority of which are diagnosed with dementia. The use class currently on the site is therefore C2 (residential institution). The northern, eastern and southern boundaries are lined with trees and western edge of the site is an open field. There are neighbouring properties to the north and east of the site.

“Hendra Court currently provides both residential and nursing care for 50 residents, many of whom have dementia. The accommodation includes a historic house and a series of single storey extensions to the rear constructed to increase capacity, however many of the buildings are becoming increasingly difficult to adapt to meet improved care home standards.

“The new building is sustainably located on the site of an existing care home and partly positioned on derelict land formerly used as a tennis court which does not have high environmental or historic value. The former tennis court is currently used to store unwanted care home furniture. Proposed development seeks to reinvigorate the underutilised site, ensuring the best use land. The proposal includes the demolition of 18 existing care bedrooms, these are contained within a series of single storey extensions which are no longer suitable for adaptation to meet the latest care home standards.”

The proposals are awaiting final approval from Cornwall Council and are currently the subject of a statutory stakeholders consultation.

PA24/02446: A certificate for Lawfulness for the proposed demolition of existing two garages and construction of new single storey garage and workshop with a dual pitched roof in Fowey has been refused by Cornwall Council.

Cornwall Council told the applicant: “The garage detailed in this submission is not considered to constitute permitted development as defined in Class E, Part 1, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015, as amended as it doesn't comply with paragraph E: Development not permitted: (e) the height of the building, enclosure or container would exceed, 2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure or container within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse. As the proposal is not considered permitted development, and has not been in place for four or more years then the certificate is refused and full planning permission will need to be applied for.”

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