PROPOSALS that could see between five and nine houses on land at Marhamchurch have been put before Cornwall Council’s planning department.

Miss Prowse is seeking a type of planning permission called a ‘permission in principle’ for the construction of between five and nine houses on land to the east of Willow End in Marhamchurch, near Bude.

It is a streamlined, two-stage route for obtaining planning permission for minor housing-led developments in the United Kingdom. It separates the basic considerations of a proposed site (location, land use, and amount of development) from the detailed technical designs required later.

At the first stage, the local planning authority, in this instance Cornwall Council, assesses only if the fundamental concepts (the proposed location, how the land will be used, and the number of homes) are acceptable. Local authorities must typically decide on these applications within five weeks.

If this is granted, then permission to build cannot be granted until an approval of the technical details consent stage.

The planning agent for the applicant told Cornwall Council: “The proposed development comprises a modest residential scheme of up to nine dwellings which would provide a valuable contribution to local housing supply and represents a logical and sustainable extension to the existing pattern of development.

“The application site comprises land immediately adjoining the existing residential curtilage of Willow End and is located within an established cluster of residential development associated with Marhamchurch.

“The site is bounded by existing development and forms part of the wider settled environment rather than isolated countryside. The site occupies a sustainable location, with access to the facilities and services available within Marhamchurch and the nearby town of Bude.

“The proposal would represent a smallscale and proportionate addition to the existing built form and would not result in sporadic or isolated development. The site is well related to existing residential development and offers an opportunity to deliver new homes on land that forms a logical extension to the existing settlement pattern.”

In the proposals, the applicant’s planning agent said that the principal question they were asking is whether residential development on the site would be considered acceptable in principle.

They argued that it should be, citing a similar approval for land on the opposite side of the road from this site.

Typically, applications of under ten properties are not subject to any requirement to provide affordable housing, and the planning agent stated that up to nine properties on the site represents an efficient use of the land for this size of development.

Other benefits that were cited by the applicant’s planning agent included the delivery of up to nine additional dwellings which would contribute to addressing the housing shortage in addition to economic benefits.

They added that in their view there was no identifiable adverse impacts from approving the proposals and commented: “The proposal represents a logical, sustainable and proportionate extension to existing residential development and would make a positive contribution towards housing delivery within Cornwall.”

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

The full application can be viewed on the Cornwall Council portal using reference PA26/05259.