By Rashleigh MacFarlane
County Hall officials have launched a charm offensive to persuade suspicious local councillors that their Homes Cornwall initiative deserves their support when it eventually runs into planning difficulties.
Officials have started a series of one-to-one briefings with councillors who have publicly-owned farms in their divisions. The council plans to take about 800 acres - roughly 8% of the total - out of agricultural production and turn the green fields into housing estates. It anticipates some resistance from local residents, who are keen to find out if their council farms are in the firing line.
Now an update from the cabinet portfolio holder councillor Peter La Broy says he wants to deliver “additional homes for local people” - but he has yet to confirm which definition of “local” will be used to offer homes at a 20% discount. He also yet to set out any financial assessments by which the council identifies those who qualify or how he will prevent the lucky buyers from simply selling at a quick profit.
County Hall staged a briefing for all councillors on 1st May which did not tell them anything they did not already know - the project is hugely controversial. It was not mentioned by anyone before the May 2025 elections.
“Officers are now starting engagement with divisional members on sites options that have been identified from the sift of our asset base,” said councillor La Broy. “Engagement will take a little time before all divisional members are contacted, but they will be seeking to do this via individual meetings where possible, so that they can discuss the site option and secure the divisional member’s thoughts and local knowledge, which will help us determine which sites are taken forward within the Homes Cornwall programme.
“Officers are also in the process of setting up further engagement with the development industry to obtain feedback on the aims of the programme, to ensure we are promoting routes to delivery that both meet our aims and will be attractive to the market.”
The council is selling farmland to make profits, not to ease Cornwall’s housing crisis. The proposed density is only 10 homes per acre - big houses with big gardens. One scheme under consideration, near Port Isaac, proposes only two homes per acre.
None of the 7,000 promised homes will be for the 25,000 Homechoice applicants who need social housing. Cornwall Council did not even apply for any of the government's £39 billion house-building fund. At least 60% of that fund has to provide social housing.
The Homes Cornwall website, which has not been updated since February, says it expects to file planning applications early next year.
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What a stupid plan! This in no way improves the housing crisis in Cornwall. It will do nothing to help the infrastructure issues we have in Cornwall and it will do nothing to improve the lives of people who live in Cornwall. Try telling the 23,000 people on the housing register how this is going to help them! The crazy part is that the Cornish actually own this land NOT Cornwall council!
Why don’t planners and the “yellow hatted one” look up when they are in any of our major towns and city? If they did they would see many upon many empty buildings from the first floor up. Convert those spaces into social and affordable housing which would go a very long way to the 7,000 houses they say they “need” to build. In turn those flats and houses would bring in many more residents to each and every town. Those residents would have all the facilities without the need for transport who would then spend money in the local businesses. That in turn would improve the local economy and each town would become vibrant and healthy. Of course this is just too simple and not glamorous enough for those that won’t see!
I would not be told if he has been briefed as my councillor has’nt contacted me since he interferd with our pivate and financil affair in 2023/4, conduct which caused my late wife considerabe stress from which she eventully died in 2024.