CHILDREN are climbing over makeshift fencing to get through a disputed ‘no man’s land’ in the centre of an Okehampton housing estate.
Meldon Fields resident Dave Thompson said he was concerned someone would injure themselves on the fence which cordons off Kellands Lane from the Crediton Road side of the estate.
The fence blocks off land originally planned for the town’s second primary school.
Owned by Leander Developments, it is at the centre of a planning stalemate preventing the road through the estate, Kellands Lane, being joined up.
‘People are using it as a cut through,’ said Mr Thompson. ‘The fence started falling down and has not been repaired. They were squeezing around the edge and have been doing that for the past few years.
‘I think what originally happened was that Linden Homes put up a temporary fence and the idea then was to take it up and link up to the rest of the estate. It has just been left and left though.’
He said that after he complained recently to Linden Homes, one of the developers who built the estate, someone had blocked up the gaps at each end of the fence.
‘This has made it worse though. Since they have blocked it up with fencing and metal, school kids are pushing through the sides and climbing over the top of it.
‘No one is accepting responsibility for it and it is quite dangerous. There are nails running through it.’
He said he had contacted West Devon Borough Council, which is responsible for planning enforcement, as well as the health and safety executive but had not had a response.
Will Adams, production director from Linden Homes South West, said: ‘The fencing that cordons the site at Kellands Lane at the Meldon Fields development is situated on land owned by Leander Developments.
‘This fencing has been vandalised a number of times and on each occasion Linden Homes has undertaken necessary repairs to ensure the overall safety of the site.
‘As on these previous occasions, we will again make the necessary repairs in this instance to ensure the safety of the wider development.’