It’s been a beautiful April here at Pengelly with sunshine pretty much every day this month. Hooray. At last some good weather after a gloomy winter. The garden is beginning to look lush again and once we get the lawns reseeded it is going to be transformed from muddy puddle to lovely garden. We also had our first official holiday-makers come and stay at Pengelly as we rented out our house on Air Bnb in the Easter holidays. Luckily the guests loved it. Phew!
Meanwhile we are having some ups and downs with getting planning permission for our holiday boathouse and lake-side yurt. We’ve had some really nice support from majority of the consultees, including the local Parish Council. But unfortunately Cornwall Council have told us they are likely to reject our plans because of (a) visual impact from the footpath and (b) transport sustainability issues as we are in the countryside. Yes. That is correct. They are concerned about the visual impact of a yurt and a cabin. From a footpath. Which no one uses. And sustainability of having two cars coming to our property. Two cars. They also don’t believe tourists would want to come to this part of Cornwall. I mean, who would want to holiday in beautiful countryside close to amazing surf beaches on North and South coast?
I am really, really, really trying to understand Cornwall Council’s viewpoint. But really struggling.
We also have had objections raised by the Environment Agency who have concerns about flooding on our land. At least we can understand their objection. We do have a lot of water here and obviously don’t want to do anything that wouldn’t be safe. But we are hopeful we can find a way to work with this by raising up the yurt and boathouse higher or moving the plots a little.
So the planning process continues! Next week, I’ll go to another Parish Council meeting as our neighbouring Parish have just been added on as a consultee. We also await more news from the Cornwall Council and hopefully will get a chance to discuss their concerns. And if all fails with this application, we do have the chance to appeal and/or put in a modified application.
So while we are a bit glum on the prospects of our planned accommodation becoming reality, we haven’t given up yet. And it’s hard to be sad for long when the sun is shining and we’ve got beautiful places like Godolphin woods and St Michael’s Mount close by. Who would want to visit this gorgeous area… I can’t imagine!
