A boatyard on Falmouth's water front could be transformed into a residential development if planning permission is granted.

Robertson Developments Ltd have applied for permission to turn an existing boatyard at North Parade, on land at the end of Falmouth Yacht Club car park, into 14 apartments with basement level parking.

Five people attended a meeting of Falmouth town council's planning committee in the hope of giving their views on the development.

However, they left without speak ing after councillors refused to dis cuss the proposal at such short notice, with some members only being informed of the plan that night.

Members were angry that the matter was on the list to be consid ered that night, as it had only been received at the town council office on Saturday and councillors Stephen Eva, Lorely Lloyd and Linda Coles had not even received the email informing them of the plans.

The committee has a policy of not making a decision on items unless they have had sufficient time to view the site and consider them properly.

Councillor Mike Varney said: "Legally, we should have three working days with which to go and see these before the planning meet ing. There are concerns. It would be wrong for us as councillors to guess."

He apologised to the members of the public who had attended and been left disappointed, but said that members did not feel it was fair to either support or object to a propos al that they had not looked into properly.

Councillor Stephen Eva agreed: "People spend money on these plans and I don't know half the information. I can't give my view on something I don't know about."

All members agreed that they could not make a decision that night and unanimously deferred their discussions to their next plan ning meeting, which is due to take place on March 12.

Three other planning applica tions were also deferred: an applica tion by Jim Machin to remove the existing roof and add a first floor with new roof and balcony to a property at North Parade, by John Kent Property Agency to demolish a block of garages and build a prop erty at Florence Terrace and by Mr and Mrs Chambers to build a detached double garage with an annexe above, at Clifton Crescent.