A 66-bed care home near Helston, joining two listed buildings to form a community hub in Camborne and the conversion of a well-known pub into homes are among the latest planning applications in West Cornwall submitted to Cornwall Council.

Every week more than 100 applications are validated by Cornwall Council and all planning applications submitted to the council have to be validated and are available for inspection by the public.

  • New 66-bed care home

LNT Care Developments, which has a portfolio of care homes specifically for the care of older people in a number of locations across England, has applied to build a 66-bed care home with associated car parking and landscaping on land off Rowes Lane, Trewennack, near Helston.

The care home proposed is a purpose-built, two-storey residential care facility to “provide a modern compliant care home to meet current government standards”.

The facility would be fully compliant with the National Care Standards Act 2000 providing single-room accommodation, with en-suite facilities and “a more than suitable ratio of communal/recreational space per resident together with level/amenable access throughout”.

The scheme is developed in a configuration which would enable the care home to provide for two types of care – general residential and residential dementia. Its layout would allow the home to be spilt into the separate care requirements.

  • Joining listed town buildings for Community Hub

Listed building consent is being sought to repair and repurpose the neighbouring Basset Centre and White House buildings in Camborne to host a variety of community-based activities, including the town library. A new central atrium would connect the buildings on Basset Road, incorporating a café, foyer and heritage exhibition experience.

How the new community hub based at the Basset Centre and White House could look
How the new community hub based at the Basset Centre and White House could look (Picture: Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole Architects)

The project emerged from the wider Camborne Town Deal project and Spatial Strategy work undertaken during 2022. The Camborne Spatial Strategy Report, released in May 2022, included testing of alternative site options for a new Community Hub in and around Camborne.

The planning application states that “combining the Basset Centre and neighbouring White House sites within a single project ensures the long term future of the two important listed buildings that form an integral part of the town’s street-scape and heritage”.

The project is supported with funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUH&C) Town Fund and Cornwall Council matched funding.

  • Converting renowned pub into homes

Lake Inns and Leisure, based at Piece, Carnkie, has applied for pre-application advice to convert the Smugglers Inn pub at Calais Road, St Erth Praze, near Hayle into five dwellings with the development of existing land and car park.

The pub closed almost exactly a year ago. In a statement on its social media page, the Smugglers Inn said in September last year: “It is with great sadness that we announce our closing day which will be Friday, September 29. Our reason for closing is simply because our landlord has sold the building and it will no longer be a pub in the future.

“So we would like to thank everyone who has supported us during the last few years, especially through the ‘Covid times’ and the ‘financial crisis’. We hope that you’ve enjoyed your visits to us and have good memories of the pub. We also need to thank all our staff present and old for being a great team and going the extra mile to make our customers happy.”