Plans to build accommodation for health workers and students are on hold after concerns were raised about the lack of parking space being provided.

A planning application had been submitted to Cornwall Council to build three blocks which would provide 89 beds of accommodation for healthworkers, key workers or students.

The plans went before the council’s central sub-area planning committee on Monday morning where planning officers recommended that they should be approved.

Councillors heard that there was a need for accommodation to be provided with a letter of support from the Royal Cornwall Hospital which highlighted the problems that they are currently having recruiting and retaining staff due to a lack of affordable housing.

However there were a number of concerns about the developer only looking to provide 15 car parking spaces.

The applicant’s agent told the committee that the spaces would only be available for use by disabled people, visitors and for use by a car club which would be provided for residents.

They explained that under tenancy agreements tenants would not be allowed to own a car and park it on the site.

The car club, which would be linked to one already operating in Truro, would allow residents to rent a car for an hour or so if they needed it.

Councillors were also told that the site has good bus links and is close to the mainline railway station as well as being within walking distance of services and amenities.

However local Cornwall councillor David Harris said that while he welcomed the principle of building accommodation for health workers or students he was unhappy with the parking plans.

He said: “The principles behind this development should be welcomed but the problem is a total lack of parking provided and the problems it will exacerbate in this area.

“I cannot believe that a number of these tenants don’t want their own car. There is nowhere in the neighbourhood where those cars could park.”

Cllr Harris also said he could not see how the managers of the accommodation could monitor whether tenants had their own cars and were parking them in the spaces outside.

He asked: “Will the management company follow people when they leave and see if they get into a car?”

The Conservative councillor said he could not see how the tenancy agreement could be enforced.

He suggested that the developers should amend their plans, reduce the development to two blocks which would provide enough space for parking for tenants.

Dulcie Tudor, who was previously councillor for there area before boundary changes at the last election, agreed with Cllr Harris.

She said that there were already problems with students and hospital staff parking in nearby residential streets, sometimes parking badly, blocking driveways or not leaving enough space for emergency vehicles.

And Cllr Tudor said that despite an offer for hospital staff to use the park and ride car park for free this had still not eased the problems.

She also doubted whether the managers of the accommodation would be able to restrict car use and said similar schemes for students in Falmouth had not been effective.

“Without them hiring a 24-hour detective I don’t see how that would work. Anybody who has anything to do with Falmouth knows that these agreements don’t work.”

Cllr Tudor stressed that she had no other issues with the proposed development other than the lack of parking.

The committee debated the issue with parking with some suggesting that they should refuse the application due to the lack of parking provision.

However there were concerns that just refusing the application would mean that the opportunity to provide much needed accommodation for healthworkers would be lost.

Instead they decided to defer the application so that the applicant could provide more details on how parking provision would work and whether spaces could be reserved at the park and ride site at Langarth for residents to use.

The decision to defer was approved with eight votes in favour and three against.