Stop the Greenbank Hotel apartment development building over the Falmouth foreshore  and the last green bank on the historic Falmouth waterfront

Overview - our index page
The Conservation Area now
Can this really be a boutique hotel?
General planning issues
Flood risks
Biodiversity and wildlife concerns
Water uses and navigation
Traffic management concerns
Sewerage and drainage concerns
Links to detailed plans
How to make your views known to developers, planners and councillors
How to contact the Save our Foreshores group

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General Planning Issues

Current Government planning policy states:

1. PLANNING AND CONSERVATION

1.1 It is fundamental to the Government's policies for environmental stewardship that there should be effective protection for all aspects of the historic environment. The physical survivals of our past are to be valued and protected for their own sake, as a central part of our cultural heritage and our sense of national identity. They
are an irreplaceable record which contributes, through formal education and in many other ways, to our understanding of both the present and the past. Their presence adds to the quality of our lives, by enhancing the familiar and cherished local scene and sustaining the sense of local distinctiveness which is so important an aspect of the character and appearance of our towns, villages and countryside. The historic environment is also of immense importance for leisure and recreation.


( from PPG 15 - Department of the Environment, Planning Policy Guidance, Planning & The Historic Environment )

Para 4.6 of the same document also states "....The Courts have held that it is legitimate in appropriate circumstances to include within a conservation area the
setting of buildings that form the heart of that area (R v Canterbury City Council ex parte David Halford, February 1992; CO/2794/1991). "
This is of particular relevance in this situation, as the Greenbank Hotel's developers proposals affect the historic setting more than simply altering a listed structure (although they do intend to build on a listed structure).

Para 4.19 goes on: "...The Courts have recently confirmed that planning decisions in respect of development proposed to be carried out in a conservation area must give a high priority to the objective of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the area. If any proposed development would conflict with that objective, there will be a strong presumption against the grant of planning permission...."

The map below shows clearly the fact that the proposed development is within a Conservation Area, facing across the river to another Conservation Area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is directly in front of a series of listed buildings.

Those buildings that are not listed in the immediate area, are mostly also regarded as "historic buildings". The listed area includes the Greenbank Quay, and parts of the old retaining wall (now overgrown).

Plan of the Greenbank area

The 'Cornwall County Council Structure Plan 2004', when referring to Conservation Areas and Areas of Natural Beauty, states ".... These sites and areas require the strongest protection from any adverse effects arising from development, including any cumulative impact".

In the specific part of this Structure Plan relating to Falmouth, it states "....Development is constrained by the estuary of the River Fal, and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Locally important landscapes make it necessary to consider carefully the future growth of the urban area."

The proposed development site seen from Fliushing

Go to our "Make your Views Known" page to see how you can comment on this proposed development

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This website is produced by the Save our Foreshores Group, and sponsored by the Falmouth Residents Association