A CONSULTATION deadline has been extended by eight days for the public to make its views on controversial plans for a caravan park on a 14-acre site just outside Tavistock.
The application is expected to be discussed by West Devon planners in February.
People wishing to object or support the application need to get letters to West Devon Borough Council at its Kilworthy Park offices in Tavistock by January 2, when the office re-opens after Christmas.
The plans by Ivy Dene of Chester are for 52 timber-clad caravans, an administrative building and car park and associated works including access works, road layouts and landscaping on land north east of Butcher Park Hill and Redmoor Close.
So far the planning authority has received 26 letters of objection and three letters of support regarding the application. Among the objectors are the Butchers Park Allotment Association, whose members are concerned about the security of the allotments and the road network.
Secretary of the allotment association, Douglas Will, said people spent a lot of time and hard work on their allotments and there was concern that there may be thefts from the site.
'In the fancy document that has been put out about it, it says we would have produce to sell to holidaymakers from the allotments but we are not allowed to do that,' he said. 'We are also worried about the allotments' access road which is already very dangerous. When there are more cars and cyclists using the main road, the problem will get worse.'
John Reynolds, who lives next to the application site, said there had been a number of accidents on the corner of Redmoor Close and he did not think the applicant's proposal for a minibus to transport people between the caravan park and the town centre four times a day would be enough to prevent a large amount of traffic movement.
He was also concerned about the water supply and sewage arrangements and said it was essential if the proposal went ahead that pavements be laid to the site and an area included for exercising dogs.
Ward member for Tavistock north, Cllr Roy Connelly, said change of use from an agricultural site would result in the loss of a very valuable green space.
'This is a very high location and it will be visible for many miles on the skyline so it will have a major impact on the local environment,' he said.
Planning consultant Steve Goodwin, agent for the applicant, said an independant assessment revealed a substantial need for additional tourist accommodation in Tavistock. The proposed site was well suited to this kind of development, where adequate access could be provided.
He said a new acess route into the site would be constructed, with improved visibility splays. The holiday park was sensitively designed and the caravans would be timber clad, to look like lodges, he said.
The park would also generate some 20 new jobs.
West Devon planning officer Ed Persse said holiday parks could be located on land outside the town's development boundary, like this one, because they were covered by different policies which related to holiday use rather than residential development. A condition for holiday parks was that units could not be occupied for more than six weeks a year by any one person.