A plan to relocate St Ives Rugby clubhouse and its training pitch to provide 120 new homes in the town will be decided by a Cornwall Council planning committee next week.

Cornwall Council has applied to its own planning authority for approval for the development, which would also include access, parking and landscaping. The land is owned by the council. The matter has been brought before a strategic planning committee meeting on Thursday, December 19 by local member Andrew Mitchell due to a number of objections and the fact it is a council project on council land.

A new clubhouse and training pitch on Alexandra Road would be situated near up to 50 houses, which would be 100 per cent affordable, and 70 extra care units. The proposed development is within the National Landscape (formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and as a result the National Landscape Office objects to both the proposed training pitch and homes, with the council admitting that the “character and nature of the site will inevitably change and there will be some harm”.

However, the planning department believes the benefits of the scheme outweigh the harm. The housing register currently shows there are 468 households within St Ives parish seeking affordable accommodation.

A planning statement says: “There are a number of clear benefits arising from the proposal. The facilities at the rugby club will be enhanced, which will increase opportunities for community participation and the attendant benefits that this will bring. Sport England are supportive of the proposed improvements.

“There is a significant need for affordable housing and so the provision of up to 100 per cent affordable houses would be a significant benefit that would carry significant weight. There would also be some economic benefit from the construction phase and potentially from employment within the extra care units.”

The proposals would see the new clubhouse built to the west of the main pitch on the site of the old stand. It would be two-storey and allow easy access to both pitches. The new training pitch, which would be a better-quality pitch than the existing one, would be sited on an area of scrub to the west of the proposed clubhouse. There would be four floodlighting columns.

The extra care units and houses would be built on the western part of the existing training pitch. The care units would be up to three storeys high, while the houses would be two storeys. The housing would require an improved pedestrian path to link to the footway in Alexandra Road.

St Ives Town Council fully supports the development, while others have concerns. Cornwall Council’s tree officer pointed out that “the site will be very well used and seen by thousands of people. Token tree planting which will be destined to fail is not, in my professional opinion, a viable option”.

There are a number of comments on the council’s planning portal with the majority in favour, citing the redevelopment of the rugby club as a boon for the people of St Ives. However, many locals have stressed the need for the housing to be affordable, which the plans state will be the case.