PLANS to build a retirement village and holiday facilities at an international golf resort have been recommended for refusal.

Crown Golf’s proposal for the St Mellion International Resort will go before the East planning committee on Monday.

The scheme is the latest in a long series of projects from Crown Gold to reinvigorate the site.

It features an assisted living or extra care village restricted to over 65s, which would include 30 independent living homes, 68 independent living apartments and a 64-bed nursing home.

The nursing home building would also include an office, reception, one doctor GP surgery, pharmacy and lounge areas.

In addition, the outline application is for a holiday lodge reception area with microbrewery, farm shop and post office, a glamping field for 12 pods, and a new golf driving range shelter.

Crown Golf is also looking to have a sports building with swimming pool, climbing wall, badminton court, creche and zipwire along with 10 holiday lodges, a “St Mellion Foundation Building” and an open-sided community learning hub.

Local Cornwall councillor Jim Flashman supported the proposals, saying that it would “help the existing host facility to remain viable in the face of the long-term reduced demand for golf”. He also backed the provision of age-appropriate housing with care for residents.

However, planning officers have recommended the scheme for refusal on several grounds, including sustainability, saying it would “result in a significant quantum of residential development, divorced from population centres” and in a location dependent on cars.

Officers also said the development would harm the nearby Grade 1 St Mellanus Church and the Grade II listed Horsepool Farmhouse.

St Mellion Parish Council has supported the application saying it was an improvement on a previous permission for holiday lodges and said there was a “clear need” for additional housing for the elderly.

But NHS Kernow said in their submission that they were concerned about the reference to a new GP surgery being built.

As the organisation which commissions GP services, it said it was not aware of the proposal, and said a submission would have to be made to NHS Kernow for consideration.

Cornwall Council’s affordable housing team is unable to support the plans because of the lack of any affordable housing or off-site provision. They stated that, with 98 homes planned in the development, the applicants would have to provide just over £4.5million towards affordable housing to be built off-site.

by Richard Whitehouse, Local Democracy Reporter