A row has erupted in West Cornwall over Cornwall Council’s controversial proposal to demolish a much-valued community centre in Penzance to make way for a 72-flat care complex, a plan branded “Putin-esque” by a local MP and condemned by residents, charity leaders and the town’s mayor.

The local authority, which owns the site of the John Daniel Centre in Heamoor, near the A30, wants to replace the hub, currently housing a host of crucial social services, with a new extra care facility for over-55s. While the council, which is currently under no overall control, argues the scheme is needed to address the region’s ageing population and reduce NHS pressures, critics have accused the authority of ignoring its own community and backtracking on earlier commitments.

Lib Dem MP for St Ives, Andrew George, who brought the proposal before the planning committee just days before stepping down from the council, told Cornwall Live the process is “disturbingly Putin-esque.

“There’s something profoundly wrong when a council applies to itself for planning permission on land it owns, uses its own lawyers to review the case, and tries to push it through just before an election,” George said.

He added: “This is not democracy, this is administrative muscle-flexing at the expense of the community’s most vulnerable.”

Initially promoted as a 100% affordable housing project, the care scheme has since seen its affordability figure slashed to just 30%, sparking further fury among local residents and campaigners, who accuse the council of selling out community interests to opaque planning processes.

The John Daniel Centre currently houses a host of frontline services, including Growing Links’ Street Food Project, which provides daily hot meals to the homeless and those living in food poverty, a significant issue in Penzance, one of the UK’s most deprived towns. The hub also hosts mental health teams, domestic violence support, housing resettlement groups, and addiction recovery services.

“We run a thriving centre here that’s genuinely changing lives,” said Lynne Dyer, director of Growing Links. “There is no viable alternative location for us. The town centre doesn’t want us, and other sites are already full or inappropriate.”

“We would happily move aside if this scheme truly tackled the housing crisis with 100% affordable housing. But it doesn’t, and the price is the dismantling of a wraparound support model that actually works.”

Her concerns are echoed in over 60 public objections on the council’s planning portal, with many arguing the demolition would cause irreversible damage to Penzance’s most at-risk residents.

Stephen Reynolds, the Mayor of Penzance, who is part of the independent party, joined the chorus of disapproval at a final planning committee before this week’s local elections. He called on members to show moral leadership and act in the interests of those who “need this facility the most.”

“This isn’t just a building. It’s a safety net,” he said. “If the council is serious about housing, then deliver 100% affordability, or don’t bulldoze a lifeline.”

Although the council says all existing services will be offered new premises, many remain sceptical. Finding appropriate alternatives, particularly ones that don’t push vulnerable groups back into high-complaint zones like the town centre, is proving near-impossible, with some organisations having already searched for years.

Cornwall Council - which has a Conservative majority - has refused to comment during the sensitive pre-election “purdah” period ahead of Thursday’s vote.

However, it has previously defended the extra care initiative, one of five such schemes across the county, as necessary to meet demand for age-appropriate housing. The authority claims 576 extra care units are needed in West Cornwall alone by 2032.