Campaigners in Sithney Parish have launched a petition to prevent a new railway station and tourist attraction at Prospidnick near Helston.

The group is opposed to plans submitted by the Helston Railway Preservation Society to extend the permitted railway track, build railway sidings and a platform, and create a toilet building, as well as keeping current portable buildings and a storage container, farm buildings for storage, and a 60 space car park. The society also wants to build a new access road.

Campaigners who are collecting signatures from the 100 or so homes within a square mile around Prospidnick have so far found more than 170 supporters for their petition, which they hope to present to Cornwall Council's Planning Committee when it meets to make a decision at the end of June.

Prospidnick resident Adrian Curtis said: “Local people are feeling increasingly under-siege by Helston Railway. It seems to have little regard for the views of the local community and local councillors, who have firmly rejected its plans. The past two years have been very stressful for the local community and there seems to be no respite.”

The plan is the third such application in three years, and has been opposed by Sithney Parish Council.

Clive Perrin, a Sithney parish councillor, said: “It’s time Helston Railway got the message. Its plans are not wanted here because there is very little benefit for the local community.

“These plans will make the lives of Prospidnick residents unbearable through noise and smoke pollution, as well as intruding on residents’ privacy as diesel trains drive slowly past their houses and gardens.”

He Perrin added: “The plans are bad for the local environment and landscape too, which remains unspoilt and has changed very little in the past 100 years. Helston Railway has already removed a lot of trees and created a large gravel car park. It also plans to build a road across agricultural fields as well as remove a large stretch of Cornish hedge to create a new access.

“We are also very concerned about the potential increase in traffic on our narrow local lanes making life more dangerous for children, dog walkers, cyclists and horse riders who enjoy the area.”

A spokesperson for the Helston Railway Preservation Society said: "We're moving on with our planning application and we hope that what we have done will allow it to succeed.

"We have done everything we can to make it as palatable as possible, and that's where we are."

Picture by KW: Campaigners Nina and Clive Perrin with Geoff Beach and Eve Randal Morris