A bid to remove a legal obligation which would have paved the way for holiday lets at Goldenbank in Falmouth to become permanent homes, has been rejected by Cornwall councillors.

The owners of nine of the 12 units at Pennance Farm Barns had applied for permission to modify a section 106 agreement which restricts the use of the units to holiday accommodation only so they cannot be occupied by the same people, including the owner, for more than four months a year.

It had been argued that the restriction has limited the units’ marketability and that the targeted occupancy has never been attained in more than four years.

The application, though, attracted objections from near neighbours and two of the owners of the other properties that make up the Pennance Farm Barns’ development.

It was also opposed by Falmouth Town Council which claimed the loss of holiday units “was not desirable” and residential use would have a detrimental impact on the designated area of outstanding natural beauty.

When the application went before Cornwall Council’s central sub-area planning committee last week, members unanimously agreed to reject the proposals and insist the restrictions remain in place.

It was considered that the obligation still serves a useful planning |purpose, that insufficient information had been provided to demonstrate that the units have been appropriately valued and marketed and the use of |the units as holiday lets was still desirable.