Residents to Vote on Penzance Neighbourhood Plan on 31st July

Residents asked to decide the future of planning across Penzance Parish

People living in Penzance and the surrounding villages are being urged to take part in a referendum on Thursday 31st July that could have long-term effects on planning decisions in the area.

The vote will determine whether Cornwall Council adopts the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan—a 200-page document developed over more than a decade by local volunteers and community representatives.

On polling day, voters will be asked:

“Do you want Cornwall Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Penzance Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”

Over a decade in the making

The Plan has been shaped through detailed surveys and drop-in sessions involving residents of Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, Heamoor, Gulval, Paul and Eastern Green. A “Community Link Group”, made up of local volunteers from each area, helped pull together the findings and turn them into planning policies.

If approved, the Neighbourhood Plan will sit alongside Cornwall Council’s existing planning policies and national guidance, but will give local views more formal weight in future decisions.

Protecting green spaces and village character

One major element of the Plan is the protection of over 80 green spaces across the Parish, most of which are designated as “Local Green Spaces”—the highest level of protection allowed under national policy.

It also includes a ‘Principal Residence’ policy that mirrors one adopted in St Ives. If the Plan is approved, any new-build homes in specified second home “hot spots” such as Mousehole, Paul, Tredavoe, central Newlyn, and areas around Penzance prom and harbour will only be allowed if they are occupied as someone’s main home.

Other policies aim to protect biodiversity corridors and preserve the separate identities of local villages by preventing them from being linked together by new development.

“A milestone in the life of our community”

Mayor of Penzance Stephen Reynolds, who volunteered on the Plan, described the process as the biggest community-led planning effort in the area’s history.

“The Neighbourhood Plan is a milestone in the life of our community,” said Stephen. “If we approve it in the referendum, every planning application in the Penzance Parish will be judged against policies developed by local people, for local people.

“It’s a massive achievement – built on hundreds of hours of volunteer time, and on feedback from hundreds of local residents.

“I’m particularly pleased that the Plan will protect so many of the green spaces that we value, and that help to keep our communities healthy and happy.

“The referendum is a rare opportunity for people to use the ballot box to do something positive for the place where they live. So, please exercise your vote on 31st July.”

The full Neighbourhood Plan and the results of the community consultation can be read at www.pznp.co.uk.