A proposal for up to eight homes on a scenic clifftop site in Mevagissey, Cornwall, has been rejected by the local council after fierce objections from the community over fears the luxury development would price out local residents
Residents are incensed over proposals for additional luxury properties on a scenic clifftop – which has been labelled ‘millionaire’s row’.
Proposals for further housing on the Cornish clifftop in the picturesque fishing village of Mevagissey were rejected after facing fierce local resistance. The village, which has gained recognition as a filming location and magnet for celebrity visitors, is practically ‘unaffordable’ for numerous locals who have been priced out by skyrocketing costs and the surge of second home buyers.
And residents came together in anger over an application for up to eight new properties on a coastal plot near Mevagissey CP School. Amongst those who objected was Mevagissey resident and former parish council member Garth Shephard.
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He said: “The proposal that was put forward was to cherry pick the best and most scenic site in the village in order to build expensive million-pound houses.
“The scenic beauty of Mevagissey is for everybody, not to be selective amongst the wealthiest people.”
Westcountry Land Enterprises (SW) Ltd had submitted an application for permission in principle (PiP) for the development and the issue was considered by Cornwall Council’s central area planning committee earlier this month.
Worries were expressed about the effect on the National Landscape (formerly an area of outstanding natural beauty or AONB) and a shortage of affordable housing.
The whole village of Mevagissey falls within the National Landscape jurisdiction. Planning officers had recommended approval, acknowledging a previous appeal in which an inspector found that losing the site to development would not cause significant harm to the National Landscape.
However, councillors voted against it during the meeting, with the chair casting the deciding vote. Mr Shephard, a former parish council member who relocated to Mevagissey in 2009, said greater efforts were needed to support local residents.
He added: “Mevagissey is a thriving coastal village which is very attractive to second home owners. Now over a quarter of homes in Mevagissey are second homes.
“This means that for local people it is very expensive for them to get a home, even if it’s an affordable home because affordable homes are priced in relation to the local market value. “The land on which they proposed to build is already designated as of heritage and scenic value.
“A detached house in Mevagissey is on average over half a million pounds already so you will see how difficult it is for those people who wish to make a living, largely in the fishing and hospitality trades, to be able to remain to live there.
“The housing that the village needs is housing that is affordable for those people that have to live and earn their living in Mevagissey and half million pounds house is out of reach for people whose salaries doesn’t even come close to qualifying them for a mortgage or allowing them to save for a deposit.” He continued: “A nearby house built in 2018 by the same developer sold in 2021 for £1.2m. There is no local need for new houses like these, which capitalise on sea views to generate profitability from high selling prices.
“The construction of unwanted million-pound clifftop houses does nothing to satisfy local need and would come at the expense of the natural environment. These houses would be highly visible and they would not be the sort of homes that Mevagissey needs for its local population.
“They will contribute to the economy in terms of paying Cornwall Council their taxes but they are not in the village long enough to be able to assimilate within the society.
“If they are second home owners they aren’t going to come here in the winter and we’re in danger of having a lights out village and there are many of those in Cornwall where the people who want to live there are driven out by the costs that the new houses have generated.”
Mevagissey has long been a charming fishing village with a rich heritage as a filming location and a cornerstone of Cornish tourism. The harbour has featured in numerous films, including Johnny Frenchman (1945), Never Let Me Go (1953) with Clark Gable, Dracula (1979), Bad Education (2015), and the 2025 thriller Playing Nice.
High-profile celebrities, among them Tom Cruise, have been spotted visiting the bay in recent years. Cllr Michael Roberts, chair of Mevagissey Parish Council, stated that his council has “consistently and vigorously” objected to all the developer’s attempts to cover this clifftop site with expensive houses, now known as a millionaire’s row.
He went on to say: “Their first application was granted on appeal. Unfortunately, Mevagissey Neighbourhood Plan had not been adopted at this time, so the inspector was unable to take it into consideration.”
“While their planning statement states that there were seven affordable houses provided, they failed to mention one sold for about £500,000 not long ago”.
He further remarked: “Their next application was granted, but overturned by the parish council launching a judicial review, winning with costs awarded. All further applications have been refused, one after an appeal.”
Applicant Justin Dodge addressed the committee, saying: “The country is in the midst of a severe housing crisis and significant changes to national planning policy last year means that Cornwall cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. With this in mind, there is a presumption in favour of development.”
He went on to say that, with those amendments, the developer had finally secured the backing of Cornwall Council planning officers to build on the site adjacent to the previously thriving housing development his firm had constructed.
Mr Dodge described the land as an “obvious development site”; a “missing tooth” within the urban landscape, flanked on three sides by existing development with the school directly opposite.
He further argued that the site’s location within the National Landscape was not grounds for rejection. “The assertion that our scheme will be skyline development is a fallacy.”
“This is a modest permission in principle application – it falls below the threshold of major development and, as such, it is permissible within the AONB.” Mr Dodge said it would provide family housing opposite the school.
