New Housing Developments
Many residents across Cornwall feel that current planning outcomes are out of step with community needs and environmental responsibilities.
Unfortunately, our planning system is fuelled by greed rather than by need, with developers prioritising unaffordable to local people homes over homes which are genuinely affordable to local people. Cornwall’s top‑down housebuilding targets have failed local people, benefitting land value speculators rather than addressing real housing need. I attach links to articles I’ve penned on the subject, which may be of interest.
The question on why such developments is permitted is crucial. Under the recently revised National Planning Policy Framework, local authorities must demonstrate a 5‑year supply of developable housing land in their plans.
The Government introduced an overnight demand on Cornwall Council in December 2024 that it should effectively double its identified development land supply, which of course was impossible for Cornwall Council. Therefore, the “presumption in favour of sustainable development” was triggered.
In practice, this severely weakens Cornwall Council’s ability to refuse applications – even those which fail to address affordable housing needs or those which are proposed for sites which would previously have been respected in view of environmental or amenity harm.
The new standard method means Cornwall Council must now plan for 4,421 homes per year, up from the previous 2,707. Cornwall Council cannot meet this new requirement, meaning its Local Plan policies are now formally considered “out‑of‑date” for decision‑making.
As a result, planning officers face the real risk that if they refuse applications – even those which seem inappropriate or unnecessary – they will most likely be permitted on appeal, potentially also leaving the taxpayer to cover legal costs.
Parts of Cornwall’s landscape and community fabric are being eroded and undermined. My concerns about these matters go back to a book I co-authored with two far more erudite and clever people than me (Dr. Bernard Deacon and Dr. Ronald Perry) – Cornwall at the Crossroads (published 1989).
These concerns guide my ongoing work pressing for planning reform, stronger environmental safeguards, and housing policies which truly serve local people.
I hope this helps to understand why such developments are likely to be approved despite strong community objections and a failure to deliver genuinely affordable homes.