A DEVELOPER’S appeal to build ten homes on a greenfield site just outside Tavistock has been turned down by a Government planning inspector over concerns about pollution and lack of access.

New Homes South West applied to build ten houses on land opposite Wilminstone Industrial Estate off Old Exeter Road.

The original application for planning permission, 4257/20/OPA, was turned down by West Devon Borough Council in November last year.

Now an appeal has been rejected by the Planning Inspectorate.

The planning inspector agreed with many concerns raised by local residents.

Tavistock Town Council opposed the original application, saying the site was in an unsustainable location with no public transport available and that the house would constitute an ‘unjustified development in the countryside’.

There were also concerns that it might damage the nearby ‘statutory’ monument The Trendle, which is believed to date from the Iron Age and has not yet been subjected to an archaeological excavation.

It has been raised that ‘there may be significant findings under the site, which are as yet unknown’.

Residents of next door Trendle Gardens were concerned about heavy metals, arsenic and lead, being stirred up by the construction work on the site.

Access off the A386 was also a concern, both on the road leading to the Wilminstone Quarry, already made hazardous by HGVs, and on the narrow lane leading to the site itself off Old Exeter Road.

‘The restricted road access is unfeasible for any construction vehicles, due to the width of the road,’ wrote one objector.

‘It seems fair to envisage that larger construction vehicles would make this popular walking route very unsafe.

As the site is about 1km from Tavistock, without a footpath, pedestrian access would not be straightforward.

A number of objectors from The Trendle housing estate next door were worried about being overlooked by the new development.

Other applications to West Devon Borough Council include:

Garden room extension to dwelling for small workshop, utility room, shower and home office – http://apps.westdevon.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/224035

Three terraced houses on farmland near Exbourne (resubmission of 0332/22/FUL) – http://apps.westdevon.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/223844

House and garage, Higher Southcombe Farm, Northlew – http://apps.westdevon.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/Home/Details/223486