A proposal to turn a community petrol station into a cafe and shop as well as building seven eco-homes has been lodged with Cornwall Council.

 

The owners of Boslowick Road petrol station in Falmouth are proposing to convert the site from commercial use to mixed use.

Falmouth Packet:

The eco-homes would be built behind the current petrol station and shop

Pre-application advice for the mixed development consisting of two parts, residential and commercial, was lodged with Cornwall Council on Monday.

The proposal says the development aims to "add value to the community by offering much needed eco friendly housing and to upgrade the village shop with an added café and potential for solar charging points plus co-working spaces above. The environmental impact will thereby be reduced and the flood risk lowered."

Falmouth Packet:

A plan of how the homes and cafe would fit in. Image: Susanne Breul Dipl. Ing.Architectural Designer

The site plan shows seven single low-energy houses with opposite or adjacent carports plus two buildings to the east of the access path with car parking on ground level and maisonette flats with ground level access above.

The pre-application says the placement of the buildings follows the density of buildings in the surrounding area and had to follow the no build zone either side of the sewage pipes for which they sought advice from the owner of the pipes, South West Water. This pipe corridor would act as access path to the houses with permeable surface covering.

The current shop and petrol station would be replaced with a building for, again, commercial use, which would be operated as a café and village shop on the ground floor and co-working spaces on the first floor.

Additionally there is the option to have PV charging points as indicated with the parking spaces on the site plan.

The intention, the application says, is to start construction by May 2024.

At the moment the proposal is seeking pre-application advice only, and no actual planning application has been submitted.