LAUNCESTON Town Council's planning committee has again recommended that a plan to change the town's Eagle House Hotel to residential use should be refused.

A similar planning application last year was also recommended for refusal by the town council planning committee. At the time their comment to Cornwall Council read: "The previous owners operated Eagle House successfully for 22 years as a hotel and a venue for functions. Therefore it supported sustainable rural tourism and the vitality and viability of the town centre.

"The proposed change of use would result in the loss of a very valued venue, which should not be contemplated."

Discussing the latest application last Thursday, planning committee chair Cllr Graham Facks-Martin said as far as he was aware, the hotel was still on the market. He added: "We can try and insist it remains as a hotel so it's sold on as a hotel."

Cllr Jane Nancarrow said: "It's part of the heritage of the town — we need it."

Cllr Margaret Young said she had seen the hotel on a list of venues for training sessions and meetings of Cornwall's school governors, with meetings plotted out for next year.

One councillor voted against the motion to recommend refusal. Cllr Roger Creagh-Osborne, a new councillor for whom the planning committee was his first meeting, told the Post after the meeting: "I have read all the documentation in the current application and it seemed to me that they [applicant] are making a sensible case."

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.