?PLEASE listen to us? ? that is the plea to planners and the developers of a major housing scheme in Okehampton. The appeal was made by Okehampton residents at a public meeting held in the town?s Charter Hall last Thursday in the face of a proposal for 500 new homes on Exeter Road housing estate. West Devon Borough Council?s chief planning officer Jane Hart, along with an agent for developers Persimmon Homes, and officers from Devon County Council?s education and highways departments, listened to the anxieties at the packed meeting. It had been jointly organised by Okehampton Town Council and Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council, amid concerns about the effects the proposed development would have on town traffic, and on the provision of education and recreation facilities. Fears were also expressed about the ability of the town's drainage and sewage systems to deal with extra housing, and doubts were voiced about the affordability of the housing planned for the site. The prominent issue was the question of whether a link road should be built to relieve the extra traffic the development would bring. Mr Wise, of Okehampton, told the planners: ?Every year the traffic in Okehampton is getting worse ? you can?t move. ?There?s going to be hundreds of extra people with this development, it?s just common sense that a link road is the key thing or this beautiful little town will go downhill. ?Another resident waved a highways planning document in the air and asked how the 30% extra traffic it estimated for Okehampton by 2011 could possibly use the current road system. Case officer for Devon County Council?s highways department Chris Govey said Exeter Road would be linked to Crediton Road as part of the development ? though by a spine road with a 20mph speed restriction, rather than by the major link road Okehampton residents were calling for. And he revealed that £300,000 from the developers would be contributed to a new town bus for Okehampton. Okehampton mayor Tony Leech said a daily rail link to Exeter might be one solution to Okehampton?s traffic problems, and which could come into service within the next two years. ?But we have to come out and use the Sunday service.? he said. ?They have to see a good return on the current service for this to go ahead.? There were concerns about how cars would access the new primary school planned as part of the development. George Weston from Okehampton asked why the planned entrance to the school had to go through the proposed housing estate. He said: ?You haven?t built the houses yet; you could put the entrance to the school straight onto Crediton Road? but once those houses are built you won?t be able to move the entrance.? Other residents were angry that the school will not be built until after the houses are completed. County council officer for children and young people Andy Dextor said predictions suggested the second school would only be needed by 2010 and he argued that the town?s current primary school was not full. Allegations were made that Okehampton?s pumping station could cope with the current houses in the town ? and would not deal with more. It was claimed some houses in Okehampton had water running beneath them now. West Devon?s case officer for the development, Adrian Noon, said South West Water had no objections to the development. ?A large drainage lagoon will be built as part of the development, which is designed to cope with a one in 200 year rain event.? he said, ?The view of the Environment Agency is that that is acceptable. We would have to have very good evidence before us to overturn this advice.? Among other issues raised was the density of the proposed development and its lack of amenities. One man warned that the developers were building ?future slums?, while a young father from the town, Simon Bourne, described the planned housing as ?egg boxes with no proper facilities?. Rob Ewan from Okehampton Rugby Club called for sporting facilities to be planned along with the development: ?If we don?t start planning sporting facilities now, where will we put them? We won?t have space.? OCRA?s Stuart Lord asked for West Devon planners to demand a higher contribution towards sports facilities and play areas from all developers. And Beatrice Simm from Okehampton suggested shops should be planned for the development, to prevent all of its inhabitants travelling into the town centre for groceries. It was announced that a petition is being organised by West Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox to present the town?s concerns about the development, to the House of Commons. He is hoping the petition will attract thousands of signatures. A letter outlining Okehampton?s main fears about the development was also distributed by mayoress Sue Leech for residents to sign and post to West Devon?s planning department. Highways officer Chris Govey promised the meeting he would represent their concerns about traffic to the county council. And agent for developers Persimmon Homes, Tim Holden, told the meeting: ?I can certainly undertake to take my observations back and consult with my clients to see if the development can be planned to take account of your concerns.? He added that it was encouraging that so many people turned out and express their heartfelt opinions? and he advised those present: ?If this development isn?t to your liking, you should organise yourselves and let your views be known at a stage when they can make a difference.? Cllr Leech agreed, saying: ?In the next few years, the next planning round is coming up and we need to keep up momentum. Four years ago, people had the opportunity to turn up and say no, but very few people came to the meeting to see the plans.? This point was echoed in a letter to the Times by West Devon Borough Council. It stated that the Exeter Road area ?was identified as a potential housing site in the first draft of the local plan review published in 2000? and it was officially earmarked for development in March 2005 following extensive public consultation. This consultation, it stated, included a 14-day public inquiry in 2003 where just 23 objections were received to development of the site. A preliminary report on the development is due to go before the planning committee on Tuesday July 24. But a decision is unlikely to be taken until Tuesday August 21 at the earliest.
