Plans to build affordable locals-only homes in St Dennis have been approved by Cornwall Council despite road safety concerns. 

The Cornwall Community Land Trust applied to build 23 social rent houses (at around 50 per cent of the market rate) on land south west of Hendra Prazey, alongside four self-build houses for open market sale.

The mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes would be built on three fields on the edge of the village near the SUEZ recycling and recovery centre.

A meeting of Cornwall Council’s central area planning committee heard on Monday that there are currently 134 households on the housing register, 127 of which have a connection to St Dennis.

They were informed of “very real concerns” about road safety if the houses were built. One single-lane approach goes through a railway arch, and was described as a “potential risk” for pedestrians and vehicles.

St Dennis Parish Council chair Julia Clarke said her council strongly objected to the plan. “We would normally welcome a development of this type in the village, and we have been having proactive conversations with Cornwall Council about affordable housing,” she said. 

“But we consider the location for this application to be inappropriate - in fact, we struggle to see how the applicants could have chosen a worst site.” 

Planning officer Alex Lawrey recommended the scheme for approval “based upon works to improve pedestrian safety and limit speeds to 20mph from the current 30mph, and other works to slow traffic down”. 

The planning department believed the benefits of the development during a housing crisis outweighed the harm to the landscape, and the issues with access could be resolved. The application was approved with six in favour, none against and one abstention.

Cllr Michael Bunney proposed a vote of approval, saying: “I’m the youngest person on this committee and I’m nearly 50. Younger generations are absolutely desperate for somewhere to live. 

“It doesn’t sound like a perfect site at all, but we have to take with good faith the comments that have been made about the local lettings plan so we have 23 homes that go to, in my words, proper job St Dennis locals.”

The applicant had conducted a road safety audit which resulted in no evidence of any crashes near the tunnel and showed vehicle speeds of around 21mph, plus there is an alternative approach to the area earmarked for housing.

But Cllr Clarke said the parish council believed it would still be perilous, even with traffic calming, due to a lack of pavements. She added added that the area was very marshy and building on it could cause flood problems.

A spokesperson for the community land trust responded: “We recognise there are local concerns about the suitability of the site. We’ve listened to these and introduced design mitigations – including drainage, junction design and biodiversity net gain – to the satisfaction of the council’s planning officer, consultees and Natural England.”

The meeting heard the houses would be “affordable homes for locals forever”, for residents who can prove they have a connection to St Dennis, due to tightly controlled selection by the community land trust.

Local member Cllr Dick Cole said there were errors with recent affordable homes developments in St Dennis which should have gone to local people and didn’t. “There was an almighty cock-up,” he added, “so I’m pleased you’ve confirmed they will go to St Dennis households.”

However, he added: “I’m quite frustrated by this application. It sets a good example of how not to necessarily bring forward a proposal for affordable housing. I accept that the land trust originally worked with the parish council on seeking out land for an exception site, but they then managed to select a site which the parish council could not support.

“Twenty three affordable units would normally be extremely warmly welcomed, but here there has been real significant concern about the site.”