The team behind proposals to put 2,000 students in a new village by the Treluswell roundabout have said they would be happy to build a science park if Cornwall Council so wishes.

Mark Dawes, of CAD Architects, told the Packet that if the council would rather see a new 'creative village' than a park and ride at the site, there would be the "capacity" to build one, and has also questioned why planners seem set on developing a piece of land that is not for sale.

The scheme's developer recently submitted additional supporting information for its outline planning application, and it is anticipated that the proposal will be discussed at a meeting of Cornwall Council's strategic planning committee on December 21.

However Cornwall Council appears uninterested in using the land, and instead has affirmed its intentions of building on a site at nearby Treliever, including farmland which the owner does not wish to sell - and recently the cabinet supported plans to buy two houses on its preferred site to facilitate this.

Mr Dawes said: "Just from looking at a map and saying 'what's the most suitable bit of land,' Treliever makes sense. But one of the threads running through local plans is they must be deliverable.

"To get Treliever would be a fight, Why would Cornwall Council continue the uncertainty and go to the expense when right next door there's a number of land owners looking to deliver what's required?

"We have said we're more than willing to have an open discussion over delivering Penvose."

He said the developers would be "more than able" to meet with the council and the universities about a time scale for delivering the accommodation, as the university comes under pressure to house a growing student population in the near future, and pointed out that the universities had "backed everybody and nobody."

He said: "If Cornwall Council don't like the park and ride we could take that away and build a science park. We have got adequate land. If they decide they want more than 55 acres we have got the capacity to set that up."

Mr Dawes also claimed that the Penvose site had the backing of Penryn Surgery, which is looking for a larger base and has written a letter of support for the project, however other large developments in Penryn have also received similar support as the surgery is constrained in its current premises.

And he argues that giving outline consent to the Penvose plans would give Cornwall Council "significant ammunition" to fight other planning appeals on the matter of purpose built student accommodation.

The team behind the development plan to run a new consultation in the new year to specifically canvas student opinion on the plans.