Councillors have postponed giving the green light to a development of 31 homes on a greenfield site in Bere Alston due to concerns about traffic.

Members of West Devon Borough Council’s development management and licensing committee voted seven in favour to three against to defer a decision on Burrington Homes’ plans for a greenfield site off Woolacombe Road.

Cllr Terry Pearce said he would not feel comfortable allowing the application from Burrington Homes until the situation with the junctions at either end of Woolacombe Road, which the development will exit onto, were improved.

He said: ‘I have grave concerns about this application and whilst the architects have put together a good scheme in principle on the site there are a number of issues which really concern me and highways is one of them.

‘I think we should defer until we can get a few things sorted out. I don’t think it is fair to expect the committee to make a decision today.’

The meeting heard concerns from the local parish council chairman and local borough council ward members about the effect more cars would have on the two junctions at either end of Woolacombe Road and on the lack of visibility leaving the site onto the road.

Devon County Council’s highways department, however, has made no objection to the application on highways grounds.

Bere Ferrers Parish Council chairman Brian Lamb, addressing the meeting on Tuesday, said the parish council would have preferred the exit from the north end of the site onto the B3257, the main route to Tavistock. This would have avoided traffic having to use either of the two junctions at the end of Woolacombe Road.

He said: ‘The highways department has ignored the Neighbourhood Plan suggestion that the site entrance should be on Bedford Street and have stated to us that no application has been made on this issue.

‘This picture of Bedford Street and The Down shows just how you have to enter the main road for visibility and the other junction at Collytown crossroads has similar issues to the Bedford Street junction, the main route for town and school buses and the main route to Weir Quay; an average of 350 vehicles use this in the morning peak hour.

‘There is major disquiet that a major site should go out onto such a rural road and got out to these two junctions.’

Cllr Pearce said: ‘I understand in the Neighbourhood Plan there is reference to the two junctions and should the development go ahead there is a requirement to improve the two junctions that are a real danger spot.’

County principal highways officer Philip Townsend responded: ‘We are aware of the constraints but it is beyond the control of the applicants to do anything to improve access to these junctions.’

Bere Ferrers ward borough councillor Peter Crozier, also speaking for fellow ward member Cllr Robin Musgrave, said the parish council would also have preferred the exit from the development to be from the north onto the B3257 Tavistock road.

He also voiced concerns that in the development as the plans stand, all refuse would be put in one place near the entrance for collection by bin lorries.

Showing a picture of the rubbish and recycling piled up for collection at the Down View development next door, he said: ‘We do not want the same situation as we’ve had with the last development. That was for 17 houses and this is for 31. Imagine the mountain of refuse.

‘The resident who lives in Down View where the rubbish is collected from has to go outside and disinfect the pavement and noxious liquids running from plastic bags and maggots crawling from the refuse.’

The meeting heard that the developer would be asked to put in tarmac instead of paving at the end of the cul-de-sac to allow refuse to be collected from outside these houses, as the paving would not be strong enough to take the weight of the lorries.

Cllr Crozier added: ‘The Down Road and Bedford Street crossroads was to have been improved when the Down View development was built in 2014. This was turned down on appeal. The Collytown crossroads is a very similar situation, with poor visibility to the left on exiting Woolacombe Road. Both of these roads have high hedges and these hedges grow 12 inches more than in the pictures shown in these photos.’

Read more about the latest planning applications in this week’s Tavistock Times, out today