A large number of residents are expected to attend a public meeting on Monday to put forward their concerns over a controversial housing plan in Liskeard.

Householders in the Old Road area and the surrounding estates have been leafleted by an action group, Liskeard Matters, telling them about the meeting in the Public Hall at 7pm.

The group has been formed to fight a plan by developers Trand to build 44 houses on the greenbelt field behind Lynes Cottages and Wadeland Terraces, and adjacent to Western Avenue and Grove Drive.

In addition, Ocean Housing is proposing to develop a further three fields for more than 50 new homes. The group says the developments would be detrimental to Liskeard as a whole.

About 40 residents had previously unexpectedly turned up to the open session of a recent meeting of Liskeard Town Council's planning committee where representatives of Trand gave a presentation.

There were some criticisms that the presentation was not on the agenda on the council's website, and the question was asked if it was a deliberate attempt to prevent the public knowing about it.

There was also a comment that because of this the public had no confidence in the council, it had also not earned any respect, and councillors who were elected as 'Open Liskeard' had not changed anything

Committee chairman Anne Purdon said there had obviously been an oversight and the matter would be reported to ensure it didn't reoccur.

Residents also referred to work previously undertaken by Trand Developments at Trevillis Park, Liskeard, expressing the opinion that there had been problems on the site. They made allegations that the developer did not operate in a responsible manner, and that the directors of the company were only interested in profit.

The chairman said these matters were historical and had no bearing on the proposed development before the meeting and were not planning considerations. Andrew Miles for Trand, acknowledged the anger expressed at the meeting about the Trevillis development, but felt that it was based on inaccurate information.

Lucy Jenkins, also from Trand, said steps had been taken to correct the operational problems on the site. The project was six weeks behind schedule due to the inclement weather.

Mr Miles said Trand was almost ready to submit plans for approval to build 44 houses off Western Avenue which would be a mix of affordable, rented or shared ownership.

Ms Jenkins said one of the contractors being considered was Ocean Developers, and there had already been discussions with the Highways Department, which was happy with both on and off-site proposals which would include two parking spaces for each property. The public path from the site had been agreed with the planners and Highways Department, but she said she was unaware it was a private road.

In the leaflet published by Liskeard Matters, a number of concerns about the proposed development include increased traffic flows on an already-congested road; a localised sewerage system already at capacity; destruction of a vital wildlife habitat; and pollution and noise.