DEVELOPERS have been given the go ahead to start work on 500 new homes in Okehampton, despite strong concerns raised by councillors. West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee voted seven to three to approve outline planning permission after members heard an agreement had been reached between the developer and Devon County Council on the issue of a second primary school for the town. Councillors heard that work on the new school building could not start until 2009 because an agricultural tenant had to be given a year?s notice to move from the land, but the developer would contribute to the cost of a temporary classroom at Okehampton?s existing primary school until the new facility was built. Several councillors raised other concerns about the development. Cllr Ken Williams said: ?There are many who believe that, rather than large scale open market development, what Okehampton needs most are homes for local young people, first time buyers and those seeking affordable rented accommodation. ?There are about 1,700 on the housing list. No wonder then that there is such concern at the principle of this development and incredulity at its sheer scale.? Cll Williams warned that many of the town?s facilities were already overstretched, that congestion is often a ?nightmare,? and that employment opportunities could become unobtainable. ?A once proud market town is becoming a dormitory for Exeter,? he said. The outline permission covers land between Exeter Road and Crediton Road. Plans for a sustainable urban drainage system for the development have met with the approval of the Environment Agency and West Devon Borough Council?s engineer. A spine road will be built to provide access through the site, and the developer has offered up to £320,000 towards setting up a town bus service, as well as £100,000 to improve the public transport link to Exeter. There will be public open spaces and the site of the new school will be sold to the county council for a nominal £1. In all, the developers ? Leander Developments, Persimmon Homes and R Coombe ? will put £2-million into the local infrastructure. But Cllr Christine Grills said: ?Families with children won?t be bothered with public services, they will be going elsewhere to do their shopping and get fuel for their car.? Cllr John Hockridge said people were already being put off by the traffic problem in Okehampton and choosing to shop elsewhere. But ultimately most committee members felt their hands were tied ? the land was earmarked for residential development in the council?s local plan in March 2005, and this means that, if infrastructure needs are met, a rejection by the planning committee would almost certainly be successfully appealed by the developers. That could prove a costly mistake for the council, which could also lose some of its leverage on the details of the application. Committee chairman Cllr Phillip Sanders said: ?Before we move to a vote we need to remember that this land is within the local development plan.? He said the plan had been subject to public consultation at the time of its formulation and enquiries had been made with all relevant agencies. ?County highways have no objection, nor do the education services. Our town development brief, rightly or wrongly, did not call for community facilities.? He told committee members to think very carefully and consider that the application did comply with the plan. The committee then took the unusual step of calling for a recorded vote, so that each member declared their vote in alphabetical order. Only Cllrs Cann, Grills and Williams voted to reject the application. Cllrs Govier, Hockridge, Horn, Hughes, Marsh, Bater and Sanders voted in favour. Public consultation is currently under way for plans to designate further areas around Okehampton for residential development. West Devon Borough Council?s local development framework plan would allow the building of 650 more new homes by 2026, in line with figures set by central government.
