A RESIDENTIAL development in Bere Alston has won planning approval ? despite claims that the scheme is ?fundamentally flawed?. West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee supported a proposal for homes at Pentillie Road because the land has been allocated for housing in the Local Plan Review. But the site had earlier been rejected by a planning inspector because of concerns over increased traffic. Now, residents opposed to the plan have contacted the Local Government Ombudsman The council received 41 letters of objection to the outline application which indicates a total of 42 dwellings. Local resident Stephen Kirby said a policy to build houses in rural areas with little employment or potential employment was ?fundamentally flawed?. He said extensive building over the past 30 years had resulted in a huge increase in traffic because of people travelling to work in Plymouth and Tavistock. This posed safety concerns for residents on the eastern side of Bere Alston who could not access the main street, school or doctors on foot without using one of the three main arteries to the village which were now extremely busy and had no pavements, he said. He also raised the lack of policing in Bere Alston and a primary school which was now so full it was turning children away. ?Although the developments within Bere Alston may be properly planned within their own respective boundaries, it is clear that the wider implications upon the village have not been given the same attention,? added Mr Kirby. Cllr Christine Grills said she would like to see access to the site made much safer as it was a busy road, leading to a major nursery business and Weir Quay. Chairman of the planning committee Roger Mathew said most of the concerns raised were either looked at when the land was considered for adoption in the local plan or would be considered at a future date when detailed plans came forward. Chief planning officer Stephen Gill said when the local plan, which determines development for the next ten years in West Devon, went before a planning inspector, all the sites in Bere Alston were dismissed because of concerns over traffic increase. It was the case, however, that the borough council needed to find sites for some 1,800 houses, a directive from Devon County Council, and it took the view that smaller settlements with school, shops and public transport systems should be looked at as well as the major settlements of Tavistock and Okehampton. ?This is why we ended up with 100 houses in Hatherleigh, just under that in North Tawton, and Bere Alston was our third largest settlement.? He said the number of houses was reduced in Bere Alston because of the traffic considerations. The issue was taken up with the Government Office South West which agreed with the borough council and felt small amounts of housing in other settlements helped to sustain these communities. ?The Government Office felt we should pursue that approach irrespective of the planning inspector?s comments, which we do not have to accept,? said Mr Gill. ?It was our opinion that the inspector?s report was the one that was fundamentally flawed in this case and it was clear that Pentillie Road was the best site in terms of it being so close to the town centre.? Geoff Stowell, of Bere Alston Action Group, said members had been fighting the drive to put houses on this site for six years and they had reported the matter of the authority rejecting the planning inspector?s report to the Ombudsman.