Resident delight as new holiday plan is refused
RESIDENTS much opposed to a student development project are celebrating after an application to turn it into a holiday site for tourists was turned down.
Falmouth Property Investment Ltd had filed an application with Cornwall Council to change the wording of one of the conditions so not just university students from Falmouth and Exeter universities can stay at the Fish Strand Hill site but tourists too.
Residents who have opposed the scheme for a decade were up in arms at the thought that hundreds of tourists would use the site when there are perfectly good holiday accommodations in the town already and no parking on site.
Now they are smiling after the application was turned down by Cornwall Council.
Planning permission for the controversial scheme was first granted on appeal in 2017 after a long battle with both Falmouth town and Cornwall councils and local residents.
The development is for a purpose-built student hostel with a mixture of studio rooms/cluster rooms and town house rooms, associated amenities spaces and staff office at land at Fish Strand Hill which is right in the centre of the seaside town.
At the time the original planning application was filed, more than 200 comments were received from residents opposing the scheme.
The appeal proposal is for 112 selfcontained student studios and cluster rooms with shared communal rooms.
However several conditions were imposed on the developers during the appeal process. The main one being that the development should solely be to provide student accommodation.
The building work started in Falmouth last year on that basis.
However in March, Falmouth Property Investment Ltd appealed to Cornwall Council with Cardiff-based DPP Planning consultants acting on their behalf, to vary the condition so more people could make use of the site.
Their proposed three-word amendment would have seen the mention ‘during term time’ included in the condition that the building is used by students from the two universities.
It would have allowed for the building to be used by other parties during holidays.
In their letter to council planners, DPP Planning said: “The proposed amendment to this condition would enable the accommodation to be occupied by other persons during the months where it may otherwise be vacant, that is, during the holiday period.”
They added: “The provision of much-needed seasonal accommodation will enhance Falmouth’s existing accommodation offer and serve to increase tourism footfall and expenditure within the town and provide a viable alternative to traditional holiday lets and second homes.”
The idea of changing the usage conditions did not go down too well with many of the local residents who have been opposing the project since day one.
More than 20 comments, all negative, had already been sent by objectors on the council’s planning portal objecting to the change of conditions.
Local resident Paul Hooper said: “One of my objections to the original application concerned the likely increase in traffic and parking.
“The developers appeared to accept this objection when they agreed the rooms would only be let to students who did not bring a car to the town.
“It is inconceivable that holiday makers would accept this same condition.
“The inevitable consequence of yet more traffic would be a further deterioration of the town’s residential amenity and commercial attractiveness.
“The irony is that this development, which is being built on land previously used as a car park, will severely exacerbate the town’s existing parking shortage.”
A spokesman for the Smithick Ward Residents Association said: “We would like to applaud Cornwall Council for listening to the concerns of local residents and businesses in refusing this application to allow holiday accommodation at this development.”