EACH week, hundreds of planning applications come before Cornwall Council’s planning department, seeking to win approval for various plans right across the Duchy, with some concerning Holsworthy handled by Torridge District Council.

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.

PA24/03047: A RETROSPECTIVE change of use application for the siting of a mobile home for residential use has been rejected by Cornwall Council.

Ms C Brouwer applied to the local authority for the change of use on land south east of Cerenety, Lynstone, Bude.

In the application, the planning agent on behalf of the applicant said: “This planning statement is submitted in support of a retrospective planning application for the siting of a mobile home for residential use on land forming part of a campsite. The application site, situated outside the main settlement of Bude, is subject to various considerations outlined below.

“The applicant previously lived in a caravan sited to the south of the application site and this enjoys a Certificate of Lawfulness for the use of as a dwelling. “The applicant was unable to continue to live in this dwelling due to its poor condition which was harmful to her wellbeing. There are also personal circumstances that meant she had to find alternative accommodation which is covered in more detail later. The applicant sought planning advice from the LPA on replacing the caravan but in a different location.

“Within the Planning Officer's pre-application response, it indicates that the applicant could relocate or replace the caravan within a designated area marked by a CLUED red line. However, it is evident from the communication that there was a degree of misunderstanding between both parties.

“The applicant provided the planning officer with a location plan highlighting the intended area for the replacement caravan, yet the case officer struggled to identify this location in relation to the existing CLUED application. Despite this confusion, the case officer proceeded to offer written guidance to the applicant on siting the replacement caravan within the redline permitted by the CLUED application.

“Given the applicant's limited understanding of planning law, it would have been prudent for the case officer to provide clear and concise advice. It is understandable how the applicant might have misconstrued the case officer's guidance and placed the replacement caravan within what she believed to be the designated redline area, based on her previous submission indicating the proposed siting of the new caravan.

“Recent discussions with the contractors responsible for the ground works have revealed that the applicant genuinely believed she had permission to site the caravan within the application site. She informed them that she had received written reassurance from the Local Planning Authority (LPA).

“While we acknowledge that the caravan has been sited outside the permitted area defined by the CLUED, it is important to clarify that this was not a deliberate attempt to bypass planning law. The applicant solely owns and manages the campsite business and it is paramount that she is able to remain within close proximity to provide attendance 24 hours a day, days a week throughout the main holiday season.”

Refusing the application, Cornwall Council said in response to the application: “The application site is located within the open countryside which is detached from the clearly definable settlement of Lynstone. The development carried out does not infill a gap in an otherwise continuous built up frontage and does not constitute rounding off in line with policy three of the Cornwall Local Plan and as a result visually and physically extends the built form into the countryside, eroding the intrinsic character of the wider landscape, representing an undesirable and unsustainable form of development in the countryside that causes harm to character of the area for which no special circumstances have been suitably demonstrated in accordance with Policy seven of the Cornwall Local Plan.

“The mobile home has been sited on a separate parcel of land to the previous Lawful Development Certificate granted under PA17/01383 and would not constitute a replacement dwelling and as a result would not be of an appropriate scale or character to the location.

“In the absence of details of Biodiversity Net Gain the application has not demonstrated how the development complies with the aims of Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021) and as such the proposal conflicts with the National Planning Policy Guidance on Biodiversity Net Gain (last updated 15th March 2024), Policy 23 of the Cornwall Local Plan 2010-2030, Policy G2 of the Climate Emergency DPD (February 2023) and paragraph 8 c, 180 and 186 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2023.”

PA24/02281: PROPOSALS for a dwelling on land north west of Pendarves, Trewiston Lane, St Minver has been refused by Cornwall Council.

Mr Hawkins applied to the local authority for permission for a new residential dwelling and associated site works at the location.

Refusing the application, Cornwall Council told the applicant: “The proposal would deliver open market housing on a site that has been designated primarily for the provision of affordable housing without directly satisfying a local need and has the potential to prejudice the delivery of the wider Special Development Area as a whole. The proposal does not accord with the spatial strategy pursued by this Council in the development plan.

“The limited economic and social benefits of the development including the delivery of a single dwelling to support the role and function of the settlement, the temporary construction jobs that would be created, increased access to housing, which would also assist the Council in meeting its housing targets do not outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the proposal is not considered to represent sustainable development.

“In the absence of appropriate evidence, the proposal fails to adequately demonstrate how the development would impact upon any species protected by law both during and post implementation of the proposed development. In the absence of such information the Local Planning Authority is unable to assess whether adverse harm would be generated with respect to any protected species.”

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