MORE than 90% of people who voted in a parish poll in Tavistock last week declared a proposed development blueprint for the town to be unacceptable.

Campaigners who instigated the poll said this week they were delighted with the response, although only 12.8% of the electorate turned out to vote.

Of the 1,196 who voted on Thursday, 1,089 voted yes to the question: 'Do you agree that the West Devon Borough Council proposals to site 750 houses and other facilities in the Tavy Valley on the south west side of Tavistock, together with a new road, is unsound, unsustainable and therefore unacceptable?'

Some 106 people voted no to the question and there was one spoilt paper.

The results of the poll will be taken into consideration with all the rest of the responses during the recent consultation when the borough council's future planning and housing committee meets in October.

Leading opponent to the authority's core strategy document which dictates development in West Devon up to 2026, Jeremy Davies, said he was extremely pleased with the results.

'I thought it was excellent and it tapped into the colossal local feeling there is about it,' he said. 'The fact that only 106 people opposed it out of the 9,343 residents of Tavistock speaks for itself.'

Mr Davies is a member of the Tavy Valley Protection Group who say that the proposals will decimate the valley and create an urban-style housing development and facilities away from the main town centre. They are asking for the council to reconsider its core strategy document and disperse more housing throughout the borough.

The plans also include a new hospital, new school and a re-instatement of the rail link to Bere Alston.

The last parish poll in Tavistock in 2000, which centred on the genetically modified food issue, provoked a low 6% turnout, but more residents have turned up to vote in county council and town council elections with 44% in the 2007 town council by-election and 72% in the 2005 county council elections.

Town councillor Mike Harper accepted that the turnout last Thursday was 'low' but he said he was not expecting it to be any higher as it was in the middle of the holiday season, there was no opportunity for a postal vote and the hours of the poll were restricted to 4pm to 9pm, unlike election polls which were open all day.

'You had to turn up and produce several items of ID to vote so not everyone would have been able to do this,' he said. 'I don't think it is a bad turnout considering these factors, and ten times more people than not have said they wanted the proposals to be looked at again.'

A spokesman for the borough council said councillors would be considering all the results of the many consultations leading up to the development of the core strategy that have been carried out over the past four years.

'However, the results of these consultations have to be set against the evidence we have gathered on the needs of our residents and the requirements of other agencies such as the Primary Care Trust and Devon County Council in their investment plans for the period up to 2026,' said the spokesman.

'The results of the poll can be placed before the planning inspector at the relevant time when he considers all the evidence. Ultimately, the inspector will decide if our plans are sound in terms of national and regional planning guidance and meeting the needs of the whole borough.'