THE first stages of a proposal to build up to 260 new homes near to the Nansledan development in Newquay has been lodged with Cornwall Council.

Real estate company Savills has written to the council requesting an environmental impact assessment (EIA) opinion on behalf of applicant Newquay LVA LLP.

The Environmental Impact Assessment application has been filed before an outline planning application is submitted and it was requested as part of a previous pre-application advice enquiry.

An Environmental Impact Assessment opinion application is a request to the planning authority, in this instance, Cornwall Council, to assess if an EIA is required prior to the submission of a planning application.

If an Environmental Impact Assessment is required, it will involve the council stipulating what details relating to the potential impact of the development are required from the developer as part of a planning application process. If it is ascertained that an EIA is not required, then the planning application can proceed in the usual fashion.

The proposed residential development would be built on around 11.6 hectares of undeveloped land on the edge of Newquay, within the Newquay Growth Area, just south of the Nansledan ‘new town’. The site is immediately bound by the A392 to the south, the railway line to the north and agricultural fields to the east.

To the immediate west is land allocated for mixed use development, which has been the subject of a recent pre-application enquiry for residential development with a detailed planning application expected imminently.

The land has previously been the subject for a pre-application advice enquiry in 2024 for the erection of up to 225 residential dwellings alongside business start up units with associated access and open space.

Since the response to that application, the business units have been removed from the proposals.

The pre-application advice enquiry noted: “Clearly this site is not situated within any Local Plan allocation, however the site is adjacent to planned growth for Newquay. Demonstrating that this will be a highly sustainable development (NPPF definition) will be very important, as well evidencing how the evolving scheme will address policy context and guidance set out above in this letter.

“More discussion on the scheme design process through the Cornwall Design Review Panel, and a high-quality design outcome, will be critical to success of development on this site. This advice is also provided without prejudice to future detailed discussions on this evolving project.”

Savills’ report to the council states: “Whilst this EIA screening request seeks to screen for up to a maximum of 260 dwellings, it is anticipated that the number of dwellings in the future application will be less than this amount.”

The precise scale, layout, quantity and design of the proposed development will be confirmed at planning application stage, but the proposal will deliver up to 260 residential dwellings, with an intention to provide at least 30 per cent of these as affordable homes. The proposal would include vehicular access as well as landscaping and open space details.