PLANS for a caravan holiday park in Callington have been opposed by the town council over concerns about land contamination from the former Redmoor Mine site and drainage issues.

The application by Terrance Patch is for 18 mobile home caravans on land at South Hill Road, but objections have also been raised by the Environment Agency.

Callington Town Council has said that further ground investigations at deeper levels are required.

Portreeve Denise Winfindale said she was in favour of having a business like this close to the town centre but on the right land: 'The closest holiday parks like this are at St Dominick and St Ann's Chapel so it would be nice to have one in Callington itself.

'This was a mining area and we would like to see further investigation work done. We are not sure it is the right place for this development.'

New Age Exploration from Australia is looking at the possibility of mining Redmoor again in the future. It currently holds the exploration licence with an option for a mining lease over the mineral rights in this area.

In a letter to Cornwall Council, consultant mining engineer for NAE Roger Craddock said there was a known zone of tin, tungsten mineralisation beneath and to the north of the application area.

He said: 'It is entirely possible that at some future time an application will be submitted to mine this mineral resource. While it is anticipated that any mining proposal will be for an underground operation it is possible that it could affect or be constrained by the proposed development.'

The Environment Agency said the application site lay within a Flood Zone 3 which was defined as having a high probability of flooding and there was no evidence provided to indicate that the necessary risk tests had been carried out by the developer.

Agent for the applicant David Beresford-Smith said the town council had gained consent for a sports centre on the site a few year ago so a caravan park seemed a reasonable proposal to make use of the land.

The final planning decision will be taken by Cornwall Council.