By Rashleigh MacFarlane

Cornwall Council’s property development company, Treveth, has submitted a new planning application seeking to scrap the “affordable” element of a previously-approved housing scheme in Penzance.

The Coinagehall Street project on the seafront has become another of Cornwall’s notorious “holes in the ground” after existing buildings were demolished and the site hidden behind security fencing.  Many Penzance residents have drawn comparisons with another Treveth project, at Pydar Street, Truro.

Planning permission for 36 dwellings and seven business units was controversially granted, by 5 votes to 4, in 2024 – but only after permission was actually refused, on the casting vote of the then planning committee chairman.

Officials scrambled frantically to then resume discussion about the application, eventually forcing a second vote to instead defer a decision.  The legality of this remains a moot point within County Hall.

In April this year, there was much mutual backslapping at County Hall as Treveth's original Coinagehall Street application was shortlisted for a prize (it was unsuccessful.)  Nevertheless, more than two years later, the historic seafront area remains a derelict building site.

Now Treveth has complained that the original consent, which required it to include 10 “affordable” homes, is insufficiently profitable.

The new planning application says that the normal return on investment for market housing would be 17.5%.  The return on investment for affordable housing is “only” 6%.

The original consent also called for a Section 106 payment of £372,124 to the council.  But Treveth now says: “Whilst the scheme is not viable in planning terms, it is important to recognise Treveth’s position as the council’s delivery partner.

“This enables them to operate at a much lower profit margins than a typical private sector developer, alongside a model which includes retaining units for private rent to generate long-term income.

“On this basis, it is considered that the scheme could still be delivered, albeit only if affordable housing and Section 106 obligations are removed in full.”

Hundreds of local residents complained about the design of Treveth's vision for Coinagehall Street,  Below: what the site looks like today, more than two years after Treveth controversially gained planning permission

County Hall officials are proposing to deal with the new Treveth application without consulting elected councillors on the planning committee.  Officials recognise that if councillors are allowed a vote, they might well reject Treveth’s request to ditch its previous promise to build some affordable homes.

The new application has been available on the council’s website for only a few days but has already attracted 20 public comments, all of them hostile.

One commentator draws attention to the prime location, observing “it is highly likely to be purchased for the sole purpose of being second homes for those wishing to visit for holidays.”

rashleighmacfarlane@cornwallreports.co.uk