CORNWALL councillors have agreed their hands are tied by planning policy and have begrudgingly approved a housing development in a Cornish village.

The controversial proposal for up to six houses in Metherell, near Callington, sparked fierce opposition from residents and local councillors who warned the development would fuel “urban creep” and threaten the identity of the village.

The application came before Cornwall Council’s east sub-area planning committee on Monday (May 11), after Reform UK councillor Angus Black called for it to be debated publicly.

Calstock Parish Council objected to the plans, arguing the permission in principle application conflicted with the local neighbourhood development plan and risked narrowing the rural gap between Higher and Lower Metherell.

Residents also voiced strong opposition, with 23 objections submitted through Cornwall Council’s planning portal, none of which supported the scheme.

Despite the backlash, Cornwall Council planning officers recommended approval, saying the development would make a “modest but positive contribution” to housing supply during Cornwall’s ongoing housing crisis.

Officers also stated Calstock’s neighbourhood development plan is now considered out of date under the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework, which has relaxed rules surrounding housing development.

Speaking at the meeting, Calstock Parish Council representative Ken Trapp said councillors’ hands had been tied by changes introduced nationally.

“To call our neighbourhood development plan out of date is actually rather insulting,” he said. “Metherell is a village with nothing in it but a pub and houses. There is already housing development under way within the previously designated boundary.

“We don’t want to lose, as a community, this division between the villages that is constantly seeming to occur.”

Planning agent Ben Wood, speaking for applicant Rachel Nation, argued there was strong demand for homes in Cornwall and said the proposed site currently had no practical use.

However, Cllr Black warned the development represented far more than six new homes.

“This proposal is about much more than the number of houses involved, it is about protecting the character of a very distinctive rural settlement,” he said.

“A key part of Metherell’s local characteristic is the separation between Lower and Higher Metherell. This application would begin to close that gap and gradually merge the two together.

“That kind of urban creep may seem small in isolation, but once it starts it permanently changes the shape and identity of a place.”

He also claimed there were already more than 120 homes for sale within two miles of the site.

Several committee members admitted they were unhappy with the proposal but felt restricted by planning legislation surrounding permission in principle applications.

Cllr Jim Candy said: “I don’t like these PiPs, but I cannot see how we can refuse it.”

The committee ultimately approved the application by five votes to three, with one abstention.

The decision highlighted growing frustration among Cornwall councillors over national planning reforms, with several warning local communities are increasingly losing influence over developments in their own villages.

Opponents fear the Metherell decision could set a precedent for future schemes that erode the character of rural Cornwall.