AN application for up to 69 homes some for the elderly has been submitted for the Bosvale Community Centre site in Falmouth.

Outline permission for the development was granted on appeal three years ago, but now more detailed plans will be considered by Cornwall Council.

Val Bennett, a trustee of Bosvale Community Centre, said: "The plans have been in the pipeline for a long time. The green space is used by children playing football and dog walkers. But children - particularly between primary and secondary school age - are great for elderly people, it keeps them young.

"We have been told that we will have a new community centre built to replace the current one, which has had its problems in recent years."

The proposal, by The Abbeyfield Society, is for up to 69 Extra Care dwellings which includes communal space and a new community centre for the use of the Bosvale Community Association.

Extra Care Housing is designed with the needs of older people in mind and with varying levels of care and support available on site.

Comments on Cornwall Council's planning portal are not in favour of the four-storey development.

A resident of nearby Prislow Fields added: "My house looks directly on to this field. At this time of year when there is no leaf cover on the trees I can see everyone who is using the field. Also, as it is a valley I can clearly hear everything everyone is saying; the dogs barking, children playing etc as if it's in my own garden.

"The noise of 69 residents, associated staff, visiting family and services and their vehicles will be overpowering. The windows & balconies will be directly overlooking/looking into my house.

"I also understand that the land was given to the Rotary club to manage on behalf of the local community and feel that this is an unacceptable loss of amenity for the residents of the surrounding area. The field is used daily by the community in a variety of ways - dog walkers, residents walking, children playing etc.

"The trees are also subject to a preservation order and I am concerned that this will be "accidentally" overlooked as I have witnessed in other developments. The Prislow Fields area does not have good enough drainage as it is and the covering of one of the very few remaining greenfield sites with such a substantial development will surely exacerbate the problem."

She added: "This proposed development is totally out of keeping with the area and is completely out of proportion compared to the surrounding housing. At four to five stories high it will completely dominate the area and destroy the open aspect of the site. It is overbearing and out of scale with its surroundings and will cause unacceptable problems with noise, disturbance and access for current residents."

Falmouth Packet:

An overview of the development

Another commenter said: "The local area is losing its green space and removing this would be a travesty to this area. The proposed dwelling would be completely out of place and out of character for the area. The traffic already using the roads in this area is already chaos and adding this dwelling would impact this severely.

Outline permission was granted in November 2016 and was subject to a total of 15 planning conditions.

Conditions 1 to 3 comprise reserve matters requirements, which state:

1, Approval of details of the appearance, landscaping, layout and scale (known as reserved matters) shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority before any development begins and the development shall be carried out in accordance with approved reserved matters.

2, Application for approval of the first of the reserved matters shall be made to the local planning authority before the expiration of three years from the of this permission.

3, The development hereby permitted shall be begun either before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission or before the expiration of two years from the date of approval of the last of the reserved matters to be approved, whichever is the later.

Another comment on the online planning application said: "This huge, ugly development is totally unsuitable for the area. The field was gifted to the Rotary Club for green field space for the local community, something in very short supply now in the area.

"The sprawling development of Golden Bank has already seen a massive increase in the traffic and drainage problems in the Boslowick Road area and this would greatly exacerbate both.

"The field is well used by local children, walkers and dog walkers and supports a variety of wild life including foxes, owls and bats. There is an existing preservation order on the surrounding trees and I fear that this would almost certainly be ignored by developers and builders if past experience is any measure!"

Click here to view the full details on the Cornwall Council planning portal