Plans to turn a stone quarry into an eco-friendly holiday park with affordable homes is among the latest planning applications submitted to Cornwall Council this week.

A company called Wilderness Escapes has applied to redevelop Dean Quarry at St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula into a holiday park for 53 eco-lodges, for holiday use only, together with a further three holiday eco-lodges for the sole benefit of charitable causes, in addition to the offer to build up to 20 affordable homes within the parish.

The proposal is for the existing planning consent for stone quarrying use on the 108-acre site to be rescinded and a change of the use of the site made to that of a holiday lodge development which has “a genuinely sustainable basis of use, construction, and operation, together with providing benefits to the locality”.

The applicant says it is far removed from the average type of holiday development. There would be no facilities such as bars, restaurants or swimming pools. They state: “The company’s customers tend to be families seeking peace and quiet, in natural settings. They are not looking to stay in a traditional holiday park.”

Wilderness Escapes say that almost £1m a year will be created in off-site spending injected into the local economy, “helping to keep local visitor attractions, pubs, shops and businesses open and prosperous throughout the year”. 

It would also see the creation of 56 new jobs, one per lodge, all-year-round.

Three of the holiday lodges would be used solely to generate lettings income, all of which will be donated to charitable causes. Those benefiting would be the Lizard RNLI station (est. £30k a year), the Manacles Conservation Zone (est. £10k a year), Friends of St Keverne Health Centre (est. £10k a year), St Keverne Band (est. £10k a year) and National Park Rescue (est. £30k a year).

The planning document states: “While there is no planning requirement whatsoever to do so, the applicant is prepared to offer to construct up to 20 dwellings off site, within the parish of St Keverne, which will only be available for purchase, at a low price, by locals. These will be built as and when required, preferably individually in order that they are accommodated within the hamlets of the parish.”

The site is subject to a series of extant planning permissions permitting the mining of the minerals quarry until August 2035. However, the quarry is currently mothballed.