HIGHWAYS matters, drainage and site location are reasons why a plan for a community housing scheme at Mary Tavy has been turned down, officers from Dartmoor National Park said last week. Planning officers determined the application for 18 local needs houses to the north of the Royal Standard Inn under delegated powers after objections from the parish council, South West Water and County Highways. The proposal was considered contrary to policy because it was outside the development boundary. DNP's head of development control Colin Jarvis said it would not be considered as an 'exception site' while there were two sites still to be developed inside the boundary which would include affordable housing. 'To consider it as an exception site would be premature at this time but it also failed on numerous other grounds,' he said. Issues of traffic increase on highways lacking adequate footways and an inappropriate access, lack of sufficient facilities within the sewerage treatment works and the removal of an important hedgerow were other reasons why it was rejected. But a spokesman for Leweston Developments, the firm behind the plan, said an appeal would be lodged against the refusal. The company was aiming to address a local housing problem by providing homes for young couples on low wages and costing around £85,000 to £115,000. 'I cannot understand why this scheme has met with serious opposition in Mary Tavy, considering it is being done for the community,' he said.
