Somerville, Mingoose Vale, Towan Cross, Truro (affordable PIP)

6009030·Cornwall·30 Sept 2026dismissed·PA25/07957

Tier label used

larger settlements (definition)

The tier sentence ¶10

“within reasonable proximity to larger settlements such as Mount Hawke and St Agnes”

Summary

Permission in principle for up to eight affordable homes as a rural exception site at Towan Cross, Cornwall, was dismissed. Towan Cross counted as a settlement and the site was well related to it, but it is one of the green gaps between the village's clusters that give it its character. Building on it would cause significant harm, conflicting with DP3(1), and eight homes likely breached HO10's 5% size limit. Substantial weight to affordable need did not prevent the harm substantially outweighing the benefits under S5(1).

The location finding

TR3: pass. mapped - few services, but fairly regular buses to St Agnes and Truro; no pavement to the stops yet "easily reached on foot"; reduced accessibility expected for rural exception sites; TR3 not cited (DL 15, 18)

Why this is cited

Settlement-definition reasoning; not a tier. In the register this counts as a descriptive mention that played no part in the reasoning.

Sources

Decision on the Planning Inspectorate appeals service · full decision note · letter pins-corpus/6009030.txt

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