COUNCILLORS in Callington will discuss an application to build up to 175 new homes in the town later this month, as well as a separate application to build 17 new houses.

Agent JLL has submitted an outline application, on behalf of Peninsula Properties, for a residential development of up to 175 dwellings and associated infrastructure on land off South Hill Road.

It proposes vehicular access from South Hill Road and Broadmead, public open space, appropriate planting and landscaping and pedestrian/cycle access points.

In its application, the agents said: ‘This scheme would contribute to the delivery of a sustainable urban extension to Callington contributing up to 175 dwellings, 35 percent of which would be affordable.

‘Cornwall Council acknowledges (and an inspector concurred) that it cannot demonstrate a five year supply of housing land and accepted that a presumption in favour of sustainable development should be engaged during a recent appeal inquiry.’

‘The current deficit in housing provision and the contribution that this proposal would make in addressing it is a strong material consideration in support of this application.

‘As the council cannot demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites under adopted policy, its existing policies for the supply of housing cannot be considered up-to-date. It therefore has to consider only whether this site is in a sustainable location for residential development and given that it is surrounded by residential development it could not reasonably be argued that it is not in a sustainable location for such a development.’

The application states that the proposed site represents a natural extension to the existing housing stock and provides capacity to contribute to the county’s housing land supply while providing flexibility to introduce more amenity space within the overall development and to provide improved play facilities for the local community where justified by the LPA at the existing play park on the opposite side of South Hill Road.

During the consultation process, which ends tomorrow (Friday) the application had received (as the Times went to press) 10 public comments, all of which were objections. Objections to the application included primarily the size of the development being too large for the town’s infrastructure to cope with, putting schools and the medical centre under added pressure and the increased amount of traffic that would use South Hill Road, on which the school and the fire station are situated.

Also to be discussed by Callington Town Council’s planning committee is an outline application by Whitehead Planning on behalf of Callington Methodist Church for the construction of 17 dwellings, together with estate road and parking facilities on land north-west of the Callington Methodist Church, Haye Road.

In the application, agent Peter Whitehead said: ‘The application relates to land north-west of the Callington Methodist Church, situated between Haye Road and Willoughby Place, together with land currently forming the driveway of two dwellings on Haye Road, Little Weston and Suhaili.

‘The application is accompanied by an indicative site layout showing a range of one, two, three and four-bed properties to demonstrate that the site is capable of properly accommodating this number of dwellings, whilst allowing for the retention of trees and hedges to the site’s periphery and meeting the normal standards the council applies to residential development. Given that bungalows and dormer/chalet bungalows are predominant in the vicinity of the site and that discussions with local residents, both at the consultation event and with the owner of Little Weston, identified a preference that the site, if developed, be developed in the same way, the indicative layout shows the footprints of a range of such properties.’

The application was submitted at the end of last month and views can be submitted to Cornwall Council before January 20. As the Times went to press, no comments had yet been submitted.

Callington Town Council is due to discuss both these applications at its meeting in the town hall on Tuesday, January 19 at 6.30pm.

The town council only makes a decision as a consultee on the application, the final decisions will be made by Cornwall Council at a later date.