WEST Devon planners this week decided that councillors should see for themselves the proposed location of 500 new homes between Exeter Road and Crediton Road in Okehampton, before reaching any decisions about the site?s future. During Tuesday?s meeting of West Devon Borough Council?s planning and licensing committee, chairman Cllr Phillip Sanders said that it was particularly important that councillors should view the site, in order to fully understand local concerns about access to and from it. Cllr Mandy Govier also called for any decision on outline planning permission for the site to be postponed until councillors have seen the full comments of all agencies consulted in relation to it. At the time of the planning meeting, the council was still awaiting comments regarding the scheme from the government office for the South West, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, and Mid Devon Primary Care Trust, among others, as well as supplementary information on drainage from the Environment Agency. Cllr Govier said: ?We would not be doing our duty to the residents of Okehampton if we came to any decision on this without having seen all the comments.? A site meeting was scheduled to take place during Tuesday afternoon. The application will come before the planning committee again at its meeting on Tuesday September 18.
