A WILDLIFE survey is to be conducted before planners consider an application for a clay pigeon shooting facility at the Grange Equestrian Centre at Inwardleigh which was erected without planning consent.
Devon Wildlife Trust strongly recommended to West Devon Borough Council's planning committee that a comprehensive study of the fauna of the site and surrounding area be carried as the valley was home to a wide variety of species such as otters, badgers, red and roe deer and barn owls.
Residents living in the vicinity of the proposed site have raised concerns over noise levels and visual intrusion.
Inwardleigh Parish Council has considered it an 'inappropriate form of development' for the area.
The retrospective application includes the change of use of agricultural land to use for equestrian purposes and the construction of permanent jumps. Committee members were told equestrian activities and clay pigeon shooting would not operate concurrently.
Applicant Grange Equestrian Ltd has stated the proposals represented necessary diversification due to the poor economic agricultural situation and there was a strong demand for clay pigeon shooting.
The facility had been provided at a substantial cost of £35,000 and would be the best in the region, said the applicants.
A limit on the number of days shooting for a temporary period of a year to allow the impact of the development to be assessed has been suggested by environmental health officers together with restrictions on times.