Angry councillors in Newquay have maintained their objection to Cornwall Council’s proposal to allow the developer of the Hotel Bristol not to build promised affordable housing in Newquay but pay a sum to Cornwall Council instead.

A scheme by Manchester-based developer Salboy to demolish the Hotel Bristol at Narrowcliff in Newquay and replace it with 176 apartments and a 40-bedroom hotel was strongly opposed by the town’s council, while more than 700 local people objected to the proposals. However, Cornwall Council’s planning department approved the development last year despite criticism that such a huge and derided application should have been discussed and decided by councillors at a planning meeting.

Less than six months after the development was approved, a bid by Salboy to modify the planning agreement to make a financial contribution to Cornwall Council rather than build previously approved affordable housing on the site at Narrowcliff was met with fury by Newquay Town Council. Salboy wanted to make a start on the development, but delays with the relocation of Narrowcliff Surgery to a bigger surgery at Newquay suburb Nansledan slowed the process.

Salboy wanted to deliver the affordable housing obligation in the form of a “site contribution” so that building can continue; in other words give Cornwall Council the requisite amount of money for them to deliver the affordable housing elsewhere.

The matter was raised again at a meeting of Newquay Town Council’s planning committee last week. The meeting heard that five councillors, a majority of the committee, maintained their objection to the decision.

Committee chair Joanna Kenny asked: “Is this going to be a last gift from this current Cornwall Council to rubberstamp this?” The people of Cornwall will be asked to vote in council elections on May 1.

Duncan McLeod, the town council’s planning and licensing administrator, responded: “I believe the issue is because the surgery is currently unable to move. There were three planned blocks and currently it is looking possible…” At this Cllr Kenny interrupted and said: “It was true at the time they got planning permission. There was no guarantee that the surgery was going. They overrode our objection on the basis they were going to provide houses in central Newquay. They’re now saying ‘we don’t want to provide houses in central Newquay’.

“My question is, is this going to be a last gift, will they rubberstamp it through or does the fact that we have objected means it’s got to go to the next council?” She was warned that was “unfair phrasing to pose to an officer because it’s politically laden”.

She asked again if Cornwall Council can make a decision during the pre-election period in light of Newquay Town Council’s objection. Mr McLeod replied: “I’m not aware of any reason why not. There is no guarantee that a town council objection results in an item being heard at the central sub-area planning committee. It depends on the Cornwall councillor.”

He said: “To be honest, the gate might have already closed on this,” but added he would contact the Cornwall Council planning officer dealing with the matter, who had previously told Mr McLeod that he wasn’t surprised the town council was objecting.

Following the meeting, Cllr Kenny said: “For those with a short memory, the provision of affordable housing (in the form of the rear block of retirement flats) was the figleaf used by Cornwall Council to justify overriding the objections of the town council at the breach of Neighbourhood Plan policies and the failure to review properly the application at committee, not to mention ignoring over 700 local objections.

“As the planning report put it – the promised housing ‘outweigh the identified harm to the historic environment, the tourist economy and to parking in Newquay town’, not to mention the damage to the character of the street, Barrowfields and wrecking Newquay’s skyline. It took less than six months for the developer to put the application in to remove the obligation to build the affordable homes. Apparently they hadn’t realised that this depended on the new surgery despite that being quite clear in the original application.”

Cornwall Council’s portfolio holder for housing Olly Monk, who represents Newquay Trenance division but is now standing for Newquay Porth and Tretherras, stated last year that the developer still wants to build the second phase – an affordable element of 49-bedroomed over-55 accommodation for social housing.

“They don’t want to be in the position of stopping the whole thing to wait until the doctors’ surgery moves, so Cornwall Council told them that the affordable contribution is £2.17-million, a sizeable amount of money. If in the event in three to five years’ time when they’ve finished phase one and the surgery hasn’t then moved, they can give the council that £2.17-million and because it’s tied into a Section 106 agreement, it would have to be delivered as affordable social housing in Newquay,” said Cllr Monk.