13th March 2025
Cool response appears to melt ice-cream plan
SUCCESSFUL Looe businessman Phil Gibson and his agent, Widegates-based Andrew Thomas, may have been dealt a blow in their bid to re-locate an ice-cream manufacturing business from the Barbican at East Looe to a site off Lydcott Lane, Widegates.
While Cornwall Council’s planning officer Shauna Vandermeulen has not shut the door completely on the Gibson family’s plan to operate from Hockey’s Field, Widegates, her pre-application ‘advice’ has certainly not welcomed the business opportunity with open arms.
Concludes Ms Vandermeulen: “There may be some support for the proposed development, however further evidence will be required to demonstrate a business or location need for an industrial premises in this location, as well as the submission of supporting surveys to demonstrate noise and odour would not become an issue to neighbouring residential properties.”
Ms Vandermeulen, who admitted that she had not visited the site, noted that the application was for a ‘small parcel of land (forming part of a much larger agricultural field)’ within an Area of Great Landscape Value.
She appreciated that while aspects of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF); the Cornwall Local and the Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDP) may soon be deemed ‘out of date’ by new Government legislation, they did still carry limited weight in decision-making and, since the application was for business use she was happy to acknowledge that Policy No.5 of the Morval NDP supported proposals that promoted economic development, including adaptations to suitable existing buildings, renovations or re-use of farm buildings.
“It is possible that the scale of the proposed development could be considered appropriate for this location, however further details would need to be submitted alongside any future application to demonstrate how the business intends to operate, including the number of likely trips for staff and deliveries, and whether the unit would be used for selling goods to the public,” she said.
Ms Vandermeulen added there was also some concern that there was no overriding business or locational need for the development in this location.
“As set out within the submitted supporting documents, milk and cream is imported from a Cornish supplier, rather than being produced on site,” she said. “This raises the question as to whether there is a need for the development to be located in this rural position as opposed to an existing industrial unit/estate.”
And she added: “If a full application were to come forward, we would expect to see the submission of sufficient evidence to demonstrate why the business needs to be located here.”
The planning officer also noted that residential properties were close to the site and said that careful consideration would need to be given to protecting their occupants from unreasonable noise and disturbance, while Cornwall Council’s highways office was also recommending that a pedestrian access should be provided with suitable visibility splays to the west of the site.
Concluded Ms Vandermeulen: “There may be some support for the proposed development, however further evidence will be required to demonstrate a business or location need for an industrial premises in this location, as well as the submission of supporting surveys to demonstrate noise and odour would not become an issue to neighbouring residential properties.”
The planning officer’s detailed reply to the pre-application advice request runs to 7,000 words and can be found within the attached pdf.