DEVELOPERS behind a £250 million resort in Cornwall are to explore alternative options after years of planning controversy.

Plans for the massive tourism complex at Carlyon Bay, near St Austell, have bounced between planning approvals, public inquiry refusals, enforcement notices and legal action.

But Ampersand, the company behind the landmark scheme, has announced it is looking at new options which could address the stumbling blocks to its completion.

The Commercial Estates Group (CEG), which has worked closely with Ampersand on the project, has secured a "planning performance agreement" with Cornwall Council which establishes a common ground on the principles of the development.

Jon Kenny, development director of CEG, said: "We have now identified a new approach to the development that goes much further in meeting the requirements of all the stakeholders concerned.

"We appreciate Cornwall Council's willingness to go back to the drawing board and have agreed that we should all aim to create a dynamic development for Carlyon Bay that will involve high-quality design and building technology to create a first class holiday complex.

"The revised scheme will reflect the fact we have taken many of the original concerns on board and will be an all-round improvement with the positive aspects of the earlier schemes being reinforced and the negative impacts being reduced.

"This does not mean that the council has made up its mind about whether to support a new planning application."

According to the company, the fresh approach will embrace a more sustainable design, a larger beach area plus a realigned sea defence system.

It could also increase the density of development towards Crinnis beach and away from the more contentious Shorthorn beach site while committing not to increase unit numbers or the leisure and retail floor space beyond the previously approved amounts.

Ampersand has planning permission for about 500 apartments, on the site of the old Cornwall Coliseum building, and a sea wall dating from 1990.

The scale and impact of the development has long been opposed, resulting in the formation of campaign group Carlyon Bay Watch. It was less than impressed with the latest announced and raised serious questions about the negotiations which had gone on behind closed doors.

"The fact that this latest accord with the developer was 'signed off' while there were no councillors to consult, the district council having been dissolved and the new council elections not having taken place, raises serious concerns about the conduct of the planning process in Cornwall Council," it said.

"In view of this, the Government must issue a direction that Cornwall Council may not determine any planning application that results from this accord."

A public exhibition outlining possibilities for the way forward is to be held next month to give the public the opportunity to talk to the project team. A revised planning application will be submitted next year.