THE construction of 60 ‘extra-care’ apartments in Liskeard has been approved by Cornwall Council.

The application was made by the council on land it owns, so it was considered by councillors at a strategic level committee as opposed to being decided by officers.

In the proposals, of the 60 apartments, only 15 will be ‘affordable’ with the rest offered on the open market.

Concerns were raised about the ‘blocky’ design of the apartments, particularly in the context of its proximity to Luxstowe House, a Grade II listed building renowned for its Tudor gothic style of architecture.

The planning officer noted: “The scale of the building, being predominantly three and four storeys high, together with its ‘blocky’ mass does raise concerns in respect of impacts on the character and appearance of the surrounding area. The building would be highly prominent in the immediate setting, and whilst the large trees surrounding the edges of the site would provide some degree of screening, the proposal could be argued to be somewhat out of scale with the surrounding development.

“That being said, the proposal will increase building density in the area, making highly efficient use of land, where development viability can be problematic in respect of extra care developments, although no specific evidence of such has been submitted for this proposal.

“Similar concerns are held in respect of the impact on the setting of the Grade II listed Luxstowe House. The new building would be sited directly opposite the principal façade of Luxstowe House and would be two storeys higher. As Appearance and Landscaping are reserved matters, full impacts on the listed building cannot be fully quantified at this stage.”

The proposals would see the adult education centre at Laity House demolished upon being vacated when the centre moves locations, with the new building in its place.

During the strategic committee meeting, Cllr Nick Craker said that he did not like the indicative designs put forward and that in his view, the positives outweighed the concerns.

The scheme was originally proposed in the pre-application part as 100 per cent affordable but by the time of becoming an outline planning proposal, this had become a 25 per cent affordable with the rest to be sold or rented on the open market.

The plans were approved by Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee, with the final design to be agreed through a reserved matters application at a later date.