Dormice 1: Morrison's 0

Picture: David Chapman Wildlife Photography

The Wadebridge Town Football Cub planning application to relocate to a new site at Bodieve has been deferred.

This has had the knock-on effect of delaying the Morrison's superstore proposal. The company wants to build on the existing football ground and is paying for the club to move to a new site outside the town's development boundary.

The decision's been deferred for two reasons:

• To await the results of the dormouse survey

AND

• To await new data from the environmental health officer who has raised last-minute concerns about noise impact on the adjoining caravan park and nearby homes at Bodieve.

So we should be hugging her as well as the dormice!

The environmental health officer’s concerns were contained in a last-minute addendum to the agenda papers which were only made available to councillors at the meeting. 

Planning officer Gavin Smith recommended that the application be deferred for a thorough acoustic analysis of the situation in the absence of “robust” data from environmental health. “The environmental health officer has noise concerns fringing on an objection. We need a proper assessment of this serious matter,” he said.

Councillors agreed. The meeting of the East sub-area planning committee of Cornwall Council on 12 August also heard that the applicant’s agent was prepared to accept the delay.