The first of a series of public drop-in sessions on a proposed housing development on the edge of Helston is taking place this Friday, with a second on Saturday.

Both will give members of the public the chance to say if they would like a piece of agricultural land in the north east of the town, next to the former Gwealdues Hotel, to be developed, and if so with how many homes.

Owned by farmer and developer Mark Rowe, through his company Jackamax, it is one of three areas highlighted in Cornwall Council’s draft Helston Town Framework as potentially suitable sites to develop.

Michael Griffin is project director of the Helston North East Partnership, which would like to develop the Trenethick site, known as HX1.

He said: “We have held a workshop with local stakeholders to identify key issues and develop initial ideas and are now holding drop-ins for all local people to come and find out about these early ideas for the site and have their say.

“The days will be very interactive and we will be using people’s feedback as we develop the plans to make sure we can create a development that is right for existing and future residents of Helston.”

Both drop-in sessions will take place in the Guildhall at the top of Coinagehall Street, between 2pm and 8pm on Friday and again between 10am and 4pm on Saturday.

However the proposal of development on that land has already concerned some residents in that area, with Ian McDonald saying: “I would urge residents of Helston not to be taken in by the slick sales talk and glossy presentations but to think about which site is the most logical and sensible for the future of our town and to make sure your councillors hear your views.

“We will have this development forever, but the upcountry consultants will be long gone!”

When published last March the draft Helston Town Framework document, which looked at everything from housing to healthcare and education, suggested an extra 900 homes needed to be built in the town over the subsequent 20 years, with 40 per cent of them affordable.

It was believed around half of these could be built around the existing “urban area.”

For the rest, three possible sites were highlighted: the Bulwark area, Bosnoweth near the link road and the Trenethick area to the north east of the town.

Mr McDonald claimed: “The land adjacent to the Maytree inn received no objections at all from locals, is closer to primary schools, shops, services and has almost minimal visual impact on the approach to the town and other homes.”