Popular UK seaside town changing 'at alarming rate' as celebrities move in
A picturesque seaside village which has become home to the rich and famous is changing at "an alarming rate".
Locals of Mawgan Porth fear the developers won't stop until every property is "bigger and grander than before" as money continues to flood into the north Cornish village. A vast number of luxury homes have popped up in the seaside idyll in recent years as the reputation of the settlement grows and grows.
Those with firm routes in the conurbation say it's become "exhausting" constantly fighting back against planning applications made to demolish existing homes and watching by as the area suffers a "loss of character", Cornwall Live reported.
They feel as if Mawgan Porth is on the front line of the struggle between second-home owners, property developers and locals of fishing villages turned holiday hotspots who are now struggling to keep up with rising prices.
Locals are unhappy with how quickly the village is being developed (Cornwall Council Planning Portal/BPM)As applications to demolish existing homes and replace them with what are often trendy glass façades with dark windows and cladding roll in to the village, one objector said: "It does feel like this will continue until every property in the village has been knocked down".
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Locals claim the influx of millionaire buyers has hiked up prices and historic properties are being flattened and rebuilt into California-style houses. Oscar winning Australian actress Cate Blanchett was rumoured to be the first celeb to buy a property in Mawgan Porth, which is currently undergoing development and upsetting the neighbours.
She is also said to have been joined by action star Jason Statham and fiancée Rosie Huntington Whiteley, who grew up in Devon near to the Cornish border. Actress Imogen Stubbs, Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Hollywood actor Stanley Tucci are also reported to have bought properties in the village. Those facilitating the bricks and mortar revolution of the area are calling it the place to be for "the finest award winning architecture in the country."
Since 2021 there has been at least 22 applications made to demolish existing houses in the area. Many of them have been met with fierce opposition from those living nearby.
Corinne Stone said one development which has been given the go-ahead would cause stress and a deterioration in her grandad's mental health, who has lived in the neighbouring bungalow for 30 years. She said the area was being developed at an "alarming rate" at the detriment of those who live there year-round, and not just for holidays.
"More land being eaten up by buildings is unnecessary and sad, especially when it's the permanent residents who have to face the detrimental impact," she wrote in her objection to the plans.
ARCO2, which has completed a number of buildings in the area says it has a "strong architectural vision for the village" and that it wants to remain respectful while transforming it. The firm said on one approved planning application for the property Alderley at Trenance: "The village of Mawgan Porth has become a popular location to create the finest award winning architecture in the country."
Stacy Davies did not agree. She wrote in response to the application: "Mawgan Porth is a beautiful village setting with a mix of traditional bungalows and more modern homes. We are concerned at the pace of development locally and the impact this is having on the waterways and the beaches themselves, as well as the loss of character to the neighbourhood.
"From an environmental standpoint, it feels extremely wasteful to continually knock down and start again when there are pleasant and proportionate properties already in situ. Why not simply redevelop sympathetically? We cannot keep maximising house sizes on plots without regard to the environment; biodiversity, noise and surrounding neighbours.
"We have nothing against improvements and developments but fear the area becoming full of modernist large properties, whose occupiers will not support the local economy. This point is less about the specific building in question but as a collective, given recent cliff-top developments."
The UK Government has expressed a desire to stem the rise of holiday homes in recent years. In April it announce it was planning a crackdown on lets by requiring the conversion of homes into holiday properties would require planning permission. The government has said it will consult on the change and on another proposal for a registration scheme for short-term holiday lets.
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