Gylly Beach café to move shipping containers onto sand

At a meeting of Falmouth Town Council’s planning committee on Monday councillors heard that the café also wants to replace its canopy with a zinc roof to include a terrace for the two existing apartments and upgrade the windows and doors to the main cafe and apartments above the cafe, as well as convert the first floor office to an en-suite bedroom.

How the cafe currently looks with the shipping containers on the proposed terrace (Image: Laurence Associates/Cornwall Council)

The shipping containers would be moved from their current location on the concrete platform to the east of the site onto the sand and raised up in case of particularly high tides.

The concrete plinth they were on would be converted to a restaurant terrace with tables and chairs overlooking the beach with a glass balustrade at the front.

The cafe was bought last year by the company behind Healey's Cyder who have already implemented a number of changes.

Cllr Jude Robinson told the committee that the application for the café on Cliff Road was discussed at the Falmouth Beaches Management Group and they had felt it was “fine”.

She said it was discussed quite extensively and previous objections to the scheme had been taken into account and the scheme altered.

Cllr Alan Jewell said it would mean losing part of the beach. He said they’d just given permission for more eating and drinking on the left hand side of the café and now they wanted permission for more eating and drinking on the right hand side.

“All overlooking the beach where people are sat," he said. "Then you’ve got balconies overlooking the beach and you’ve actually lost some of the beach to those containers.”

A computer generated image showing the other changes that will be made including stone cladding along the front to match the sea walls. (Image: Laurence Associates/Cornwall Council)

Committee chairman Steve Eva said personally he had no problem with it. “People down there abuse that beach end and they don’t look after it always having bonfires, especially against the wall," he said. "When I used to go down there during my mayorship the amount of broken glass and bonfires where they’d thrown everything into it.”

Cllr Robinson said she supported it as there was obviously the demand for it and it was a lovely place to sit.

Cllr David Saunby also raised concerns about the loss the beach. “If they get this, what’s to say they won’t come back wanting more?” he said.

Councillors voted in favour of recommending approval of the application with one objection and one abstention. The final decision will be made by Cornwall Council