PLANS to redevelop the A30 rescue station site at Graddon Cross near Okehampton have been rejected by West Devon councillors. The outline application for eight large detached dwellings, situated next to Betty Cottles Public House and Restaurant, was last week refused due to the land being outside the defined settlement boundary. Planners were also concerned that an employment site would be lost if the land was used for residential purposes. The county highways authority had recommended that permission be refused as the proposal comprised ?development in the countryside, outside any development plan boundary or recognised settlement and remote from all facilities?. They said the development as such would foster growth in the need to travel by private car. Planning chairman Cllr Roger Mathew said: ?My feeling is that it is a sufficient site, but it needs more work between the planning department and the site owners for them to come forward with a vision that might be accepted. ?It needs more clarity of what is intended in a comprehensive plan.?
