Proposals to demolish a seaside hotel and replace it with 23 homes – including affordable housing – have been dubbed “hideous”, an “eyesore” and out of keeping with the character of the area by opponents.

Plans by developer Acorn Blue to knock down the Cliff Hotel in Bude, which overlooks Crooklets beach, and replace it with a mix of single, two and three-storey homes come before Cornwall Council’s east sub-area planning committee on Monday, February 19.

The proposals have been brought before the committee at the request of divisional member Cllr Shorne Tilbey due to concerns raised by Bude-Stratton Town Council regarding landscape and visual impact, surface water management, loss of natural habitat, harm to the setting of designated heritage assets, construction movements within a congested residential area and not providing housing according to local need.

The development would see the construction of 16 open market properties and seven affordable homes. The western half of the site proposes two detached single storey dwellings accessed off a private drive, while the remaining dwellings would be delivered within the eastern half of the site and comprise a mixture of maisonettes and other dwellings.

Leaflets, including a survey form, were delivered to 120 addresses within close proximity to the proposed site by the developer. Only 25 responded during the consultation period.

Out of those 25, 32 per cent said yes, they supported the development, 63 per cent answered no, and five per cent answered both yes and no, curiously. Fifty comments against the proposals have been made on Cornwall Council’s planning portal, with the majority saying the development would be out of keeping with the area.

Bude-Stratton Town Council has strongly objected to the application, saying the western part of the site falls within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) impact zone and a coastal vulnerability zone, and is therefore environmentally unsuitable location for development.

The council also says the proposals extend into an area of great landscape value which it believes is “completely unacceptable”. The western half of the site contravenes the town council’s own neighbourhood development plan policy, which identifies neighbouring Maer Down as one of the community’s most valued open spaces.

The National Trust, which owns Maer Down, is also against the plans, stating: “We consider this type and scale of residential development, in this location, is a proposal that cannot deliver what would be needed to safeguard the environment, setting and ultimately, the social and economic wellbeing of Bude. Therefore, the proposal does not represent sustainable development, and hence we object to the application.”