A MASS protest is being planned at Cornwall Council next month against what campaigners say is the “overdevelopment and destruction” of Cornwall.

A number of people have joined together on social media to discuss developments in Cornwall and are now set to hold their protest.

They are set to gather outside County Hall in Truro on July 9 – the date of the next full meeting of Cornwall Council.

Protesters say they are concerned that too many large housing developments have been given planning permission by the council and are worried that it is out of control.

Lance Dyer said: “Cornwall Council is not acting on behalf of local residents but on behalf of developers. Indeed the council has become a developer. One reason, I think, is because central government has cut funding it thinks it can make money this way. The most notorious scheme is for 3,000 homes at Langarth adding 8,000 to the population of Truro. This was done at a time when Cornwall Council is pleading poverty and cutting social services, etc.

“Cornwall has 20,000 on the housing need register and only a very small proportion of homes built will be truly affordable or council home rentals, again, affordable on local low wages.”

Mr Dyer also highlighted concerns about the planning system and how applications which are refused by the council are then overturned at appeal by a government-appointed planning inspector.

He said: “If Cornwall Council refuses a development then the developer can appeal to an unelected planning inspector who almost always overturns the Cornwall Council decision. So there is no local democratic accountability over planning decisions.”

He added: “We are seeing development encroaching onto areas of outstanding natural beauty and spoiling the surroundings of World Heritage mining sites.”

In a post on the Facebook group for the event one organiser wrote: “Cause for complaint is that the countryside is being slowly absorbed into a concrete mess of low standard housing that don’t meet regulations. That hundreds of holiday parks are popping up everywhere, that the coastline is being dug out to make room for luxury second homes. That this is the tip of the iceberg, there are roads to be built to sustain these builds, schools, shopping malls and more and more housing and when it’s all done this beautiful place that everyone loves, that hundreds visit, will be an eyesore, with nothing left worth fighting for.

“The countryside disappearing, wildlife disappearing, hedgegrows being ripped out, trees felled, hundreds of locals unhappy and being driven out of their long-term homes of generations, and the air is so thick with fumes… call that progress, I call it disturbing.”

They added: “Fed up with overdevelopment and the destruction of the countryside, beaches, woodlands and villages and towns being dug up and changed.

“Fed up with the lack of respect to the Cornish heritage, wildlife, people when it comes to all this overdevelopment.

“Fed up with laws, restrictions and preservation being thrown out the window when it comes to protecting this beautiful and very special land of Cornwall

“Fed up with our public services, roads, hospitals, schools, surgeries being overloaded due to mass development.

“Cornwall was/is a very special place full of history, wildlife and beautiful countryside and beaches. It’s being destroyed and at a rapid rate, filled with cheap tacky housing, mass holiday apartment villages and large homes of aluminium and glass. And they want to build more and more.

“Cornwall is changing beyond recognition and not for the good. We want to deliver our message that enough is enough. we are not silent, we are here and we are angry. So rise up and get your voice heard. Stop using Cornwall as a cash cow, stop taking the heart out of Cornwall.”

The protest is set to start at 8am on Tuesday, July 9, at County Hall in Truro.