THE erection of a striking modern home in Tavistock has sparked a formal complaint by residents, who say their homes have been blighted by the new building. Residents in Old Exeter Road are reporting West Devon Borough Council to the ombudsman regarding its planning procedures, which allowed the two-storey house to be built at Quant Park. They say they knew nothing about the plans until construction started on site. The residents say their bedrooms and gardens are directly overlooked by the new property — and claim their views are now ruined by a 'massive two storey glass and terracotta edifice'. Ruth Webb, who has lived in Old Exeter Road for more than seven years with her husband Mike, said: 'This has come as a complete and utter nightmare. 'Both the council and developers have shown a blatant disregard and lack of decency in not asking us about this application. 'I'm absolutely horrified about this. I'm not one to burst into tears but after I saw it go up, I was furious. 'How can the planners allow anything like that to be built in the first place? It's so out of keeping.' Angry residents in Old Exeter Road say the council failed to notify them of the original application for the Quant Park site — and one amended in March 2006, approved by borough planners later that year. They say these plans were merely 'rubber stamped' on the recommendation of planning officers, without being considered by the planning committee. Mrs Webb's neighbour Moira Brown said: 'We were not notified because our houses are not contiguent with the development.' Mrs Brown and her husband Michael said the former borough conservation officer, Roger Duce, felt the original application on the Quant Park site was an invasion of privacy and the imposing, unusual design of the house was out of place with the skyline and houses beside it. But they say his concerns were ignored, and not represented on the planning officer's report. Mrs Brown said: 'To have agreed to a large, imposing glass fronted house with a balcony that the residents can look into our bedrooms and gardens is just outrageous. 'This is about a local authority riding roughshod over concerns of residents.' A spokesman for the borough council said: 'The planning application was advertised in a local newspaper and by way of a site notice, so the council fulfilled all the statutory requirements for publicising the application. 'The council also complied with its internal procedures of writing to immediately adjacent residential properties. 'The Old Exeter Road properties, separated from the site of the new house by a neighbour's garden, have enjoyed an exceptional level of seclusion for town centre properties and we can understand those residents would find the new development unwelcome. 'However, the new property is more than 35 metres from the rear of the Old Exeter Road houses and there is a considerable difference in the levels. 'The planning case officer and chief planning officer do not feel the impact on the residential amenity of neighbours in Old Exeter Road is so great that a refusal of planning permission could have been justified.' The spokesman said it was 'not unusual for modern architectural designs to polarise opinion'. Simon Mole, the owner of the Quant Park property, told the Times the proper planning process had been followed through the council. He said: 'I'm sorry people feel unhappy about it. However, I do not feel that it is appropriate to make a further comment.'
