CONSENT was this week given to build 12 new homes on land at Lewdown ? despite a village petition objecting to the scheme and strong opposition from the parish council.
The chairman of West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee was required to use his casting vote in granting consent to the ?reserved matters? application ? outline consent had already been granted on the site opposite the Blue Lion Hotel.
The committee heard that to comply with outline planning conditions a new footpath would have to be built narrowing the old A30 to a width of 5.5 metres.
And to enable a Devon hedge to be retained as far as possible ? another planning condition ? four entrances would have to be created to the development.
Cllr Dilwyn Hughes strongly opposed the application.
He said he was ?dead against? any damage to the hedge and felt narrowing the road would be dangerous to pedestrians.
?The whole of the parish is against this ? I?ve never known so much feeling. You have to consider the residents,? said Cllr Hughes, who added the scheme would ?ruin the countryside?.
?It?s going to look like Plymouth or London ? and you haven?t considered the safety of the children walking along the other side of the road,? he said, proposing the scheme should be rejected.
But Graham Clark for Sunnybanks Homes Ltd said the proposal was the only way to comply with the outline planning consent already laid down by the borough council.
He said the application complied with all the conditions and narrowing of the road, which was backed by the highways authority, would be paid for by the developer.
?This proposal will improve visibility and assist in highway safety,? he insisted.
Cllr Hughes? proposal to reject the scheme on safety grounds fell by one vote. Cllr Roger Mathew?s proposal to back consent was split four votes to four. He used his chairman?s casting vote to give the scheme a final thumbs up.