THE next stage in a plan to create a large new housing estate on the north western edge of Tavistock was given the green light by planners in West Devon last week. George Wimpey UK Ltd has applied to build some 126 houses on one parcel of land at The Manor, off Old Launceston Road ? 51 of which are to be classed as ?affordable?. The application covers the first stage in the development of The Manor site, where the housing density will be greatest at 39 dwellings per hectare ? ultimately, more than 140 houses will be built on the land. Planning officer Ed Persse told the committee that although objections had been received regarding the high density of housing in this section, officers considered the figure acceptable, given the rest of the site was expected to be developed at a level ?significantly? below a standard 30 dwellings per hectare. Cllr Ken Williams asked if the affordable housing was likely to be concentrated in one area of the new estate. Mr Persse told the committee that these units would be ?dotted around? the site. ?It?s not a ghetto,? he said, adding that some of the 126 houses would have garages, others would simply have parking spaces. The committee heard that although there were some concerns that the new houses would overlook existing dwellings in the area, it was felt the problem would be ?fairly limited?. Planning members agreed the proposal should be delegated to officers to grant, subject to a range of conditions and satisfactory comments from the highways department and borough engineer.