A PLAN for 155 new homes at St Ann's Chapel which contains less than the recommended number of affordable houses will not be 'called in' by the Secretary of State — a move which has baffled local residents.

Frustrated homeowners who signed a petition against the development by Pillar Land Securities claim the Government Office South West has ignored its own directive, which states that 45% of new housing developments have to be of an affordable nature. The plan by Pillar Land Securities of Plymouth includes only 15%.

Outline permission for the development of land off the A390 was granted by the planning authority of the former Caradon District Council in March, but it was sent to the Government Office South West because it was considered a departure from planning policy.

But in a recent letter to Cornwall Council, the county's new unitary authority, the Government office says that having carefully considered the planning issues, it has concluded that the secretary of state's intervention would not be justified.

One of the key factors in granting the application was the planning history of the site.

Permission for residential development on this site was first approved in the 1970s and an application for 135 homes in the 1980s had been kept alive because work had commenced.

But local resident Nigel Miles said things had moved on since the 1970s, both in terms of the number of homes that had been built in the area and in the need for affordable housing.

He said the planning application was sent to the regional office because it did not address the legal requirement of a minimum of 45% of the development to be affordable: 'Now this directive is being ignored by a Government body which oversees the need to enforce such regulations. Historical applications still have to abide by current legal regulations. There is a lot of disquiet about this.'

He said in the last 25 years nearly 200 houses had been built in St Ann's Chapel and Drakewalls. Adding an additional 155 was no longer sustainable, he said.

'The school could probably cope with another ten or 15 children, but there could be 600 new residents from this development and all the developer has offered is £165,000 for infrastructure costs.

'This area has been designated a World Heritage Site. If this happened at Stonehenge there would be an environmental outcry, but because it is here it seems to be OK.'

A spokesperson for the Government Office South West said that brand new applications had to provide 45% affordable housing, but the original application for 135 homes still stood because work had started on that site: 'At that time applications for residential development did not have to include affordable homes,' he said.

'The developer has now added another 20 houses and 22 of the total are affordable.'

He said it was the case that 135 houses could have been built anyway, but with the new application the area was getting 22 affordable homes it would not otherwise have had. The Government office had therefore concluded that the secretary of state's intervention would not be justified in this case.

Planning officer for Cornwall Council Paul Jackson said the site had been 'kept available' for development in the current local plan which had been reviewed by a planning inspector back in 2006.

'It is not a huge step to add on another 20 dwellings and the view was that 22 affordable homes was preferable to none,' he said.