Details of planned Penvose Student Village near Penryn in Cornwall

The Penvose Student Village in Penryn already has outline planning permission but a reserved matters application has now been submitted which includes the layout and design of the development.

Falmouth Town Council’s planning committee has supported the application in principle but has made a number of recommendations to the developers around cycle routes, charging points for electric bicycles and hedgerows.

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As well as 1,858 student bed spaces the village will also have a hotel, shops, business units, sports facilities, GP surgery, nursery, a student hub and a pub/restaurant.

The site is currently made up of eight fields and lies next to the A39 providing access to Penryn and Falmouth.

CGI of the commercial area of the Penvose Student Village which is planned in Penryn

In a design and access statement submitted with the application the developers says that it will be a “zero carbon development which directly responds to the climate emergency”.

The village has been divided into areas with student accommodation in one part, the commercial area, the sports facilities and parking facilities.

Sports facilities planned for the site include three outdoor tennis courts, an all-weather sports pitch and three indoor squash courts. The main building also has a reception area and changing facilities.

The student accommodation will be in three to four storey blocks grouped around planted courtyards. The blocks will range from nine to 62 beds per unit.

Screencapture Planning Cornwall Gov Uk Online Applications Files Ea74760864202d1e43a8925b435cd7be Pdf Pa21 04825 Commercial Zone 3d Views 5756419 Pdf 2021 07 30 11 06 26 (1)

There have been ten comments placed on the council’s planning portal about the application, with nine in objection.

Sophia Cracknell said she wanted to “strongly object to the ridiculous development proposal” for the student village. She added: “I do not believe there is any demonstrable need for this development.”

3D image of the proposed residential area of the Penvose Student Village in Penryn

She explained: “The university do not appear to either support or show a need for this development and are consistently aiming to house students onsite. There is also a huge reduction in the number of students accessing learning onsite due to the global pandemic, with the vast majority of learning occurring online and remotely. It is clear that this is a development for final profit only and will be re-purposed as soon as agreed to increase this gain.”

Many of the other objections raised concerns about traffic from the development and that it would be using a greenfield site.

There is no indication when Cornwall Council will make a final decision on the reserved matters application.