People power has won out over a contentious plan to build 22 affordable bungalows on land which opponents have long argued is a valuable nature reserve, writes Local Democracy Reporter Lee Trewhela.

The proposals proved so controversial in Portreath that a councillor said it was splitting the community and residents in favour of the scheme felt too intimidated to speak out.

Coastline Housing, in conjunction with landowner Portreath Parish Council and Classic Builders SW, applied to Cornwall Council to build the properties on a former WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) base at Cambrose, near Portreath, which was used for housing and workshops to support the war effort during and after the Second World War.

Since the plans were first mooted last year, some residents of the parish including members of Portreath Climate Action Network protested, hanging banners on the site boundary, which could be seen by motorists driving from Redruth to Portreath.

Opponents to the scheme have won itOpponents to the scheme have won it (Image: LDR)

A meeting of the parish council’s planning committee last July, where the application was being discussed, was a heated affair. Residents packed the meeting, which was said to be the largest attended in the council’s history, with opponents of the scheme holding banners outside the venue, St Mary’s Church Hall.

Those present heard that the matter was splitting the community, with one councillor warning people to stop the issue “being quite so divisive”. Cllr Simon Goodwin said people in support of the scheme felt too intimidated to attend the meeting.

Coastline Housing told those present that there were 57 households in need of housing in the parish and the 100 per cent affordable bungalows, if approved, would only go to people with connections to Portreath.

More than 200 comments against the proposal were left by members of the public on Cornwall Council’s online planning portal. One of those was Jack Pellowe, who wrote: “As a 23-year-old living in close proximity to the proposed development, I would love nothing more than a home to call my own, especially in the area in which I grew up.

“However, despite being acutely aware of the desperate need for affordable housing in Cornwall, I strongly object to the application – it is evident, especially from the strength of feeling from other objectors on this planning application, that the former WAAF site at Cambrose is simply not the place for such a development to take place.”

Redruth Town Council unanimously resolved not to support the application on the grounds that it was not a sustainable development and it would have a negative impact on the natural environment and ecosystem, and the Portreath-Devoran Mineral Tramway. CPRE Cornwall, the countryside charity, also objected.

Opponents to the scheme have wonOpponents to the scheme have won (Image: LDR)

The application has now been refused by Cornwall Council’s planning department, which said it would introduce a “sporadic and inaccessible form of residential development into the open countryside, which would neither be within, adjoining, adjacent to nor sufficiently accessible to any nearby settlement, or justified by any special circumstances, and it therefore conflicts with the spatial strategy for residential development set out within the Development Plan.”

It was felt the development would also result in “significant loss of biodiversity and displacement and translocation of animal groups through substantial clearance of valuable natural habitat and regenerating native woodland, which forms part of a wildlife corridor at the lower section of the valley and contributes to connectivity between protected habitats.”

The refusal also stated the road, which provides the sole vehicular access to the site, would be at risk of flooding.

Sara Clasper – who instigated the fight against the plans – is now being called a “hero” on a Facebook page, Save Our Nature Reserve, which was set up by those opposing the proposals.

She told us: “The right decision has finally been made. This plan should never have been put forward – it has raised people’s hopes regarding an affordable home and we all knew it was the wrong place. We need to address the real issue in our village and help find homes for people who desperately need them. Empty houses, second homes and Airbnbs … nature must not pay the price as we cannot replace it.”

The matter is being discussed at a meeting of Portreath Parish Council tonight (Monday, July 29).