A PLAN for 30 homes in Tavistock has raised concerns from local residents who fear it will open the way for more development on greenfield land and cause chaos on the busy Whitchurch Road.

Persimmon Homes wants to build houses on land at St Andrew's Road, which is outside the development boundary but will include 40% affordable housing and a possible allotment site. Developers are currently talking with planning officers and consulting with the community and are hoping to put in a planning application at the end of this month.

The site was put forward following a call from West Devon Borough Council in 2008/09 for developers and landowners to come forward with suggested sites for development but it was never adopted in the council's local plan — a blueprint for development up to 2026. The 3.9 hectare area of land suggested for a total of 50 houses, included the larger field to the north but drainage issues were highlighted for the southern part of the site.

Ian Gasper, who lives near the proposed site, said he believed if the application was successful the developer would undoubtedly later apply to build on the much larger field behind.

'It's only a matter of time before they apply to build on this much larger field,' he said.

'Whitchurch Road is already an extremely difficult road to drive down particularly going into town with cars parked along the road.

'The prospect of many more vehicles is likely to make it still more dangerous, particularly for the people creeping out on to it from the various moor roads.'

Local resident Alan Johnson said: 'My personal concern is that this major development will inevitably triple in size.

There are known surface water drainage issues relating to Tiddybrook which affect local residents as well as those lower down the brook in Bishopsmead, and it is a steeply sloping site which will give rise to losses of privacy for overlooked neighbours.

'Existing traffic congestion on Whitchurch Road and the pressure on Whitchurch Primary School will increase but neither can be readily adapted to cope.

The site is very close to the Dartmoor National Park boundary and edged with woodland, some of it protected by tree preservation orders which must be upheld in order to protect a flourishing bio-diversity.'

Agents for Persimmon Homes Turley Associates said there were no current plans to develop beyond beyond the 0.9 hectare proposal site.

A flood risk assessment would be included with the planning application as well as a detailed drainage strategy to ensure that surface water run off did not exceed current 'greenfield' rates.

'The West Devon SHLAA (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment) concluded that this site was developable — ie suitable and available for housing development,' said spokesman Andy Ross.

He said as part of the pre-application process the company had been liaising with Devon County Council highways who had raised no concerns in respect of access, traffic or highways safety.

Mr Ross added that a consultation newsletter with information of the proposal and details for feedback had been circulated to some 160 local households around the site as well as to local members of the borough and town council.

Comments were welcomed via [email protected]">[email protected]

Borough council ward member Ted Sherrell said there had, rightly, been immense opposition in Tavistock to the very high number of houses to be built during the next few years under the existing local plan — 750 homes and a new railway station are earmarked for Monksmead.

'A proposal to build even more homes, outside of this plan, must be rejected totally and instantly,' he said.

'More development beyond the already excessive numbers mooted for the town would bring the borough council into yet more disrepute and local democracy will suffer another debilitating blow.'