A DEVELOPMENT scheme to save the listed woollen mill building in North Tawton and provide 62 new homes for the town has been given the green light by West Devon Borough Council.

The revised development scheme proposes the erection of 39 new residential units, and the conversion of three of the existing mill buildings to create a further 23 residential units and B1 office space.

The decision to give developers the go-ahead at the council's planning committee meeting on Tuesday follows a lengthy period of consultation.

The project was last in front of the planning committee last April, and was rejected due to concerns over viability, a lack of affordable housing and effects on the heritage of the site.

Paul Rogers, a senior architect for developer CMS Bath Limited, told councillors on Tuesday: 'We have revisited the plans and our original approach, and put forward the most sensitive plan we can come up with.

'Our aim is to restore and reuse the most important buildings on the site, while providing new homes built sympathetically to the heritage of those mill buildings.

'The proposal has been guided by substantial consultation and it will restore an important historical site to its past glories.'

The new plans will retain the mill, one similarly aged industrial building and the adjacent large three-storey building for residential use, as well as a smaller Victorian building for B1 office use.

One of the buildings was previously proposed for demolition but following architectural surveys, will now be saved.

Elements of the demolished buildings worthy of retention will be reused elsewhere on the site, and walls with historic and aesthetic value will be only partly demolished and incorporated into the design.

In her assessment, West Devon planning officer Anna Henderson-Smith said: 'The mass of the proposed building is now more in proportion with the listed building and site history, so whilst the new-build does not look to compete with the heritage, it sits more comfortably alongside it than the very small domesticated scale of the previous submission.

'The new design will give identity to the site itself whilst sitting as part of North Tawton.'

North Tawton Town Council has supported the development since last February.

Chairman Cllr Nick Morgan said: 'It is important that we save these listed buildings. They have been empty for at least 30 years and they are gradually falling apart. Something is urgently needed.'

Borough councillors unanimously decided to delegate to the development manager to grant the project once an acceptable section 106 agreement — to secure community benefits — is reached.

In the recommended agreement, a £176,103.25 allocation will go towards primary education, £169,641.30 for secondary education, £51,500 for public transport contributions and improvement of a footway over the bridge, and £50,000 for affordable housing as the project does not provide any.

Despite regret over a lack of affordable housing, councillors were still happy with the decision.

Vice-chair of the planning committee Cllr Philip Sanders said: 'It is important that people appreciate what has gone on in the background.

'It has consumed an awful lot of officer time, and many hours of detailed work has gone in to get to this point. It is exceptional work on a difficult site.'