The controversial application to convert part of Penninis Farm into a campsite has been refused by six votes to four.
The proposal, put before the Council’s Planning Committee on Tuesday 14th February, was expected to be deferred at the Chief Planning Officer’s recommendation, but Members decided not to go ahead with the scheme.
The application has caused considerable concern, with over 300 objections and 20 letters of support. Anticipating a capacity turnout in the Council Chamber, a screen was set up in the Town Hall where a further 100 could watch via computer and projector. Thirty people watched the Town Hall screening, but were outnumbered by viewers on the Internet. One hundred and seventy people logged on to watch the meeting on their own computers, a Council webcast record.
Members felt the new campsite did not meet the requirements of Policy 4 of the Local Plan, concerned with the environment. The Countryside Agency was unconvinced that the approach taken would minimise the visual and enviromental impact of the development. A CA report read: ‘As it stands, the scale of the proposal is likely to have a significant impact on the intrinsic character of this nationally important and smallscale landscape.?
Members were also concerned that the project would not improve tourist numbers during the early Spring and late Autumn when there is excess capacity, a Local Plan requirement, but would increase numbers during peak season. Cllr Brian Lowen said: ‘This development will do nothing for the shoulder (periods of the season) but it will have a big impact on the Island at the busiest time of the year. I despair at the thought of 150 extra people milling around the Co-op on Saturday’.
He pointed out that that Policy 4 supports two residential units per farm, ?but here we have an application for 38.? And as the Planning Committee had previously turned down a proposal for a playpark in the same area, ?how can we grant permission for a development of this nature, when the same reasons for refusal would pertain??
Lowen, a former Chief Technical Officer, also expressed his concerns about the impact on the Islands’ water supply, which he described as ?very dear to to my heart.? The campsite would have its own water supply, but would be dependent on the mains supply in periods of drought. It was suggested that this would defeat the object as the campsite would not be a burden when water was plentiful, but would be when scarce.
Cllr Richard MacCarthy said he was impressed with the Enviromental Report and other documents provided by Jon May in support of his application, but pointed out that they had been submitted by the applicant and should therefore be ?taken with a pinch of salt.?
And Cllr Ralph Banfield feared the scale of the development would be the thin end of the wedge and that other farmers could, if the plan was passed, view it as an opportunity to instigate similar sized projects of their own - such as, he suggested, ?go-karting.?
Cllr Marion Bennett, who proposed the refusal, described the scale of the proposal as ?way out of kilter with the Scillies,? and suggested that passing it would ?make a mockery of the hours spent in this chamber arguing the case for or against one or two bed spaces.? She felt the application should be refused on Policies 1,2,4,5 and 6 of the Local Plan, relating to Environmental Protection, Housing, Transport, Infrastructure for Sustainable Communities Fish and Livestock Processing.
After lengthy discussion the application was thrown out by 6 votes to 4, but this may not be the end of the drama. The proposal is likely to go to the Secretary of State for appeal. Disappointingly, the decision will probably not be made on the big screen.
(The picture at the top of this article in no way resembles the proposed scheme).