Eric Pickles to decide on £24m Cornwall Stadium development

The applicants for the scheme are Inox and Exemplar Projects and the plans include proposals for a 10,000 seat stadium and a 120 room hotel at Threemilestone on 4.49 hectares of agricultural land on the edge on Truro.

Consent must be obtained from Communities Secretary Eric Pickles before the project can proceed despite the grant of consent by Cornwall Council because the project is a departure from the Council’s development plan.

"It is recommended that the benefits of the proposal are substantial and outweigh the harm identified and the conflict with elements of the development plan," the planning committee report said.

The stadium will be used for local football, rugby club and community events, such as concerts. Campaign group Stadium for Cornwall has backed the project, citing a lack of large sports facilities in the county.

There is also a parallel application for residential and mixed commercial development on the adjoining land to the project site. This application is still pending and will be presented to the Committee at a future meeting, according to the Committee Report.

The pre-application consultation on the planning application for the stadium was successful with very few objections. However, some local parish councils objected strongly to the application and took the view that the application was premature.

Kenwyn Parish Council said that whilst it supports the concept of a stadium, it "cannot support this application. This is not a suitable location for the Stadium. A more suitable location on the A30 should be sought. Again this application is premature for a number of reasons".

Truro City Council's views mirrored those of the Parish Council and it recommended that the application be refused because “it is premature". Truro Council argued that the local planning authority had resolved to produce a development brief for the land on which it is currently consulting and which it has not yet adopted.

Despite the prematurity concerns raised, Cornwall Council granted outline consent and the application has now been referred to Pickles.