Ahead of the meeting, protesters gathered at New County Hall in Truro singing songs and waving placards to show their opposition to the plans. More than 300 people had objected to the application on the council’s website.
According to the plans, Sir Tim and his son Alex wanted to set up a horticultural, agricultural and culinary training center along with 19 holiday homes, a café and facilities and a new golf club reception on the outskirts of Lostwithiel.
Read more: Gillyflower farm designs described as made from “fairy smoke and dust”
Council planners had proposed approving the plans, saying that while there would be some damage to the Landscape High Value Area (AGLV) and cultural heritage assets, they felt the program’s financial benefits outweighed the damage.
However, Lostwithiel City Council and Cornwall local councilor Colin Martin were opposed with concerns about the impact of the development as well as concerns about highways and the impact it could have on the city.
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Planners explained to the committee that the plans had undergone several changes since they were first unveiled, including a reduction in the height of the main junction building that would have meeting rooms, cafeterias and shop facilities.
Lostwithiel councilor Phil Wisdom explained why the council had opposed the request and expressed doubts about the educational aspects of development. He said: “There is no order, there is no land for gardening, not even as much as a greenhouse.”
He said the proposed jobs would be “low-skilled” and said “the benefits are speculative, the losses are real”.
Mr Wisdom said the request was against the Lostwithiel Neighborhood Development Plan and said that while the nature of the plan was that policies could be contradictory, he said it was important to balance the damage on the benefits.
And he said that the claim that development would benefit the city center was “in my mind nothing more than an out-of-town shopping center would help a city.”
Sir Tim addressed the committee and said it was a “regret” that the petition divided Lostwithiel. However, he said he and his son were confident that the development would be sustainable and would help not only the local community but also the wider population in learning and developing learning about gardening and agriculture.
He said he was working with a number of educational institutions, including the universities of Exeter and Plymouth, to set up on-farm training and research programs.
And he said the golf club and the cottages would help generate income that would help fund the educational aspects of the new venture.
Mayor Colin Martin said he was concerned about the impact of the extra traffic on Cott Road, which has access to the new development, and was very concerned about the impact on the AGLV and historic assets in the area, including Restormel Castle.
The consultants said they were frustrated by the lack of consultation from applicants with the local community on development proposals before submitting. There was also concern that no economic impact assessment for the planned development had been carried out.
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Committee member Andrew Long suggested that the application be rejected because of the damage it would do to the AGLV’s character and to the cultural elements of the area.
He said: “It is the burden of the applicant to prove that the negative effects are offset by the benefits. I can not see that they have done this, in my opinion, they have not done it for me.
“They had the opportunity to do that, they had the opportunity to provide an economic impact assessment, but they did not. “I am incredibly disappointed that there was no consultation until the application was submitted.”
Cllr Long said that even during the lockdown, consultations were held on various developments, some of which were conducted online to match the guidelines and to ensure that people could have their say.
He added: “In my opinion, the reason I will propose the refusal is that I believe that the negative impact on the character of the AGLV and the damage to the historical monuments and the Restormel Castle is higher than the balance has been given by the officer. The economic benefit and the community benefit are smaller “.
Cllr Long also said the implementation did not comply with certain policies in the local and national planning guidelines as well as the Lostwithiel neighborhood plan.
Many committee members – including Louis Gardner, John Fitter and Dulcie Tudor – spoke in favor of the petition. Cllr Tudor said: “I see this as an exciting project that will move things forward.”
However, Cllr Long’s proposal to deny the town planning permit, obtained by Rob Nolan, was approved by seven votes to four. Applicants have the right to appeal against the decision.
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