Harrowbarrow housing plan refused against recommendation

Harrowbarrow needed better infrastructure for more housing, councillors said

Plans for six new homes to be built in a village have been rejected after councillors said the development did not provide enough affordable housing.

Planning officers had recommended the application on land at Callington Road, Harrowbarrow, Cornwall, be approved.

The application was considered as a rural exception site, which allows development in open countryside if it is affordable housing.

However, just half of the proposed homes were to be affordable.

The site at Harrowbarrow, east Cornwall

Planning officers' recommendation said the benefits of providing affordable homes outweighed any harm which might be caused by the development.

'Village cannot cope with more housing'

However, many councillors disagreed saying they were concerned about the damage that would be caused to a Cornish hedge, as well as only 50% of the development providing affordable homes.

Local residents had objected saying they feared that, if approved, it could set a precedent for more homes to be built in the open countryside and that they would be out of character with the area.

Calstock Parish Council objected to the application and said: "We simply cannot cope with any more housing."

They added that the parish had had a number of housing developments in recent years but that "there has been zero investment in infrastructure".