Latest on Hospital Cross retail park in Helston, Cornwall application

As previously reported, Parsonage Developments Ltd hopes to develop a 2.7 hectare greenfield site at Hospital Cross, between the Sainsbury’s supermarket and Flambards Theme Park, to include a McDonald's, Aldi and Costa.

Earlier this year a new site plan was submitted by the Pegasus Group, on behalf of Parsonage, showing the removal of The Range from the plans.

Now further documents have been submitted to back up the proposals, along with more details about the reason while The Range – a popular element of the plans – had to be taken out of the application.

As reported back in April, the Ministry of Defence had raised an objection that stated the development would fall within a safeguarding zone of one of its air navigation aids, a High Resolution Direction Finder (HRDF), located on a mast near the runway at RNAS Culdrose.

The safeguarding zone that surrounds the HRDF is designed to maintain a protected 'line of slope' around it, to ensure it is not obstructed or its performance degraded by nearby buildings or structures.

The MoD also gave concerns regarding bird strikes that could come as a result of the development by "providing additional attractants for hazardous birds," as well as a concern that litter could find its way on to the base's runway, causing a hazard.

The new site plan shows Aldi relocated further away from the Culdrose side of the site, into the space that would previously have been occupied by The Range.

The remaining area is now designated as a service yard, and car parking, following a redesign of the parking spaces.

The site plan now, with The Range removed Picture: Pegasus/Cornwall Council

Amended plans state that in order to prevent the scheme interfering with the protected line of slope, all the buildings needed to be lowered.

Aldi is described as being particularly affected by the line of slope, and would need to be dropped "a significant amount" in order for it to work in its current location. McDonald's and Costa would not need to be lowered by as much to sit below the line.

This has resulted in The Range being removed from the scheme in order relocate Aldi, with the store's roof lowed by 2.25m and changed from a monopitch to a flat roof. The other two units have dropped by 1.2m.

In order to allow this to happen, new access has been planned from Helston Downs, which involves a ramp down to a roundabout that leads either to the north, or south down further ramps.

Other changes to the original plans include creating a retaining wall along the northern edge, which would result in the loss of the hedge bank – this would be replaced with a "Cornish hedgerow".

It is now proposed to retain a section of hedgerow along the western boundary to increase existing screening, increase tree planting within the car park and around the entrance, and increase the area of the proposed wildflower meadow, with changes to areas of shrub and hedgerow planting.

A landscape and visual impact assessment submitted this month states that planting has taken consideration of the close proximity to the airfield, so large trees and fruiting species of shrubs have been kept to a minimum to discourage flocks of birds.

A new map showing the planned planting for the site at Hospital Cross Picture: Pegasus/Cornwall Council

However, those objecting to the application say they believe not enough has been done to address the impact.

A new letter from Jules Lewis, a town resident who is also in Helston Climate Action Group, uploaded to the planning application documents, states: "It appears the developers have conducted a minimal revision to the plans, with the aim of solely addressing the main concerns of the Ministry of Defence, and essentially ignoring the dozens of other issues."

He points out there is no revised Transport Assessment in these plans, estimating that removing The Range would only account for around 10% of the additional traffic caused by the development (previously predicted to generate approximately 281 vehicle visits per day, as part of an estimated total of some 3,000 additional vehicles), and adds: "Even with the removal of The Range, traffic at Hospital Cross could be increased at peak times by 13%.

"This when the location is already seriously suffering from congestion at peak times as other objectors have pointed out, including all town and parish councils on The Lizard."

People are still able to leave comments about the proposals until a decision is made. Currently 296 public comments have been left, including 199 of objection, and 92 in support.

The application can be found under the planning portal of cornwall.gov.uk reference PA21/07481.