PROPOSALS to build hundreds of new homes and a possible railway station in Tavistock has been slammed by the town council, who claims the town's services cannot cope with such 'over urbanisation'. A consultation is currently underway to see how the borough can accommodate 600 new homes on top of the 3,800 proposed last year in the local development framework — with the majority of housing earmarked for the two main towns of Okehampton and Tavistock But following Okehampton Town Council's stand against more development because of fears that the infrastructure is not adequate to deal with it, Tavistock has followed suit, reiterating the same concerns. The town council has rejected both options being proposed — 250 homes or 750 and a railway station at Callington Road. Cllr Michael Harper, who drafted the council's response to the borough council, said he calculated that there would be at least 760 new homes being built within the next year, not including those being proposed in the local development framework. 'You only have to look at the traffic chaos in the town centre and especially at the weekends to see that the town is creaking at the seams and cannot sustain the amount of development already underway let alone that which is in this plan,' said Cllr Harper. He said the train station being proposed by Kilbride Community Rail Group, along with 750 houses at Monksmead, was 'one of the biggest follies' he had ever heard: 'It is at the wrong end of town for a start — people will have to drive to it and you can get to Plymouth quicker by car. Callington Road cannot be widened so how is it going to cope with all these extra vehicles?' he asked. Cllr Harper said he suspected there would be no affordable housing in the scheme because the developer's contribution to the town would be a railway station and track. 'The sheer size of this over urbanisation will change the character of the town forever and will also put extreme and unbearable pressure on the delivery of essential local services,' he added. The town council's response to the borough also stresses the need for more housing that local people can afford, rather than masses of unaffordable open market housing. Cllr Harper said more effort should be put into providing employment land and attracting a good range of quality employers, to increase the wage level in Tavistock so people were in a better position to get on the housing ladder. Cllr Brian Trew said the amount of homes suggested was 'totally potty'. He said: 'Instead of allowing the town to grow organically, they are doing a 'Milton Keynes' on us — it will destroy this town. Tavistock has a lot of heritage and it is up to the district council to do its damnedest to maintain that heritage.' West Devon Borough Council's planning policy officer Chris Dunford said the comments would be carefully considered and a revised preferred option for future development published in June, which would go to public consultation. He did say, however, the housing numbers were set by the Government and were not up for debate: 'The decisions we have to take are where that housing should go in terms of where is the most sustainable location,' he said. People have until midday tomorrow (Friday) to submit their responses — the draft development plan can be seen at the borough council offices, on the council's website and in the library.