Huge 90% vote to ban new-build second homes in another hotspot

There’s been a landslide vote to ban new-build second homes in another tourist hotspot.

Some 90 per cent of those who voted in the tiny Cornish port of Mevagissey backed a local plan which would outlaw new-build second homes - although this would have no impact on existing homes which could still be sold to holiday buyers.

The provision has been made in the Mevagissey Neighbourhood Development Plan which wants the restriction to "restore the balance to the playing field for local people".

This follows a similar restriction backed by a majority of voters in nearby St Ives in 2016, and one last year at Seahouses in Northumberland.

In Mevagissey last week there was a 32.74 per cent turnout.

The new plan states: "The permanent population of Mevagissey has fallen slightly over the last 200 years but, since 1930, the buildings in the village have more than doubled. [Some] 26 per cent of the homes in Mevagissey are holiday homes and another 12 per cent are listed buildings. These statistics are mutually dependent, since heritage features are popular with holiday home owners.

"As a consequence, local house prices are beyond the reach of many local people and the parish council has built a number of affordable homes over the last decade to tackle this problem."

It said there was a concern that "uncontrolled or unsympathetic development" could compromise the assets of the parish, its character, coast and countryside.