Plans were approved last week to turn a Falmouth guest house into a dental practice.

The Observatory, based on Western Terrace, was used as a guest house for the past 20 years, with the owners retiring in the past year.

The new proposal sought to change the use of existing guest house into a dentist with seven surgery rooms.

In a supporting statement, the applicant said:

"The practice will improve the health of Falmouth by helping to correct an undersupply of dentistry.

"I plan to provide high-quality family dentistry accessible to all. As demand increases, surgeries will be able to open on evenings and weekends to make dentistry more accessible for Falmouth's full-time working population.

"The forced closure of all dental practices for 3 months due to coronavirus pandemic has also created a huge backlog of treatment which the practice will help to clear.

"The practice will also boost Falmouth's economy and has the capacity to accommodate up to seven surgeries, supporting more than 18 new jobs."

The application was given conditional planning permission by Cornwall Council.

In a conclusion, the officers report reads:

"On balance it is considered that the proposal is acceptable, subject to conditions.

"All other matters raised have been taken into account, including the planning history and the comments of the Town Council, but none is of such significance as to outweigh the considerations that have led to the conclusion."

[H3] See the latest news on our Twitter and Facebook pages. [.H2]