The Penzance Neighbourhood Plan has reached the next stage and will be implemented from 9th September 2025.
Having been approved by more than half of those voting in the referendum in July, the Plan will now be made and used as part of the development plan for Cornwall, in development management decisions in the parish of Penzance, pursuant to section 38A (4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
The Penzance Neighbourhood Plan Referendum took place on Thursday 31 July, when local residents were asked “Do you want Cornwall Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Penzance Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
In answer to this, 2,928 of the electorate voted ‘Yes’, against just 268 who voted ‘No’.
The Plan was developed and written by the communities of Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, Heamoor, Gulval, Paul and Eastern Green following extensive surveys and consultations to establish what really matters for the Parish. Now that it has been approved, the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan will be used by Cornwall Council when making planning decisions within Penzance Parish alongside the Local Plan, other Cornwall Council planning policies and guidance, and national planning policy.
At more than 200 pages long, the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan was largely produced by local volunteers, including representatives from all the individual communities within the Penzance Parish. This “Community Link Group” organised questionnaires and drop-ins, and used the feedback to develop policies that reflect what local people want.
One of these policies identifies over 80 green spaces in the Parish to be protected from development. Most of these are designated as “Local Green Spaces”, the highest degree of protection under national planning policy.
The Plan also includes a ‘Principal Residence’ policy, similar to one introduced in St Ives, which means that new-build homes in certain areas will be legally restricted to occupancy as a principal residence only. This will apply to second home “hot spots” in the area, including Mousehole, Paul, Tredavoe, parts of Newlyn centre, and areas around Penzance prom and harbour.
Other policies within the Plan protect biodiversity corridors and secure ‘green buffers’ to protect the separate identities of villages in the Parish and stop them being joined together by new developments.
The Referendum for the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan was run by Cornwall Council, who stated that from an electorate of 15,848, there were 3,197 Ballot Papers issued: a turnout of 20.17%. Of those 3,197, the number of ‘Yes’ votes was 2,928, and the number of ‘No’ votes was 268. This amounted to 91.6% of votes in favour of the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan.
You can read the Penzance Neighbourhood Plan in full here:
