NEW plans for a housing development of up to 148 homes on a site in Tavistock were unveiled last week.

The proposed site off New Launceston Road, opposite St Maryhaye, is on land which has already been identified as a possible site for future development by West Devon Borough Council’s Local Plan.

Last Wednesday (March 9), local residents and authorities were invited by Cavanna Homes, to view a public exhibition outlining concepts for the residential development.

The architect for the proposed plans, a planning officer, engineer and development manager were at the event to discuss any concerns from residents.

Cavanna Homes development manager Michael Newman said at the event: ‘The local councils were here so we spoke with them. We invited Tavistock Town Council, the district and the ward members — all the feedback was very positive because of the draft and the Local Plan.

‘The room has been full and we have had lots of positive comments from the public. Because of the Local Plan the council asked us to promote the site. The access is already there, the footway has been done which links the site to the town centre so it helps pedestrians.

‘There is also a public footpath throughout the site, which will be retained and we have been told by members of the public that the fields do get wet — so we are aware of that. There is an already existing watercourse and that was done in a green, sustainable way.

‘We have been looking to get responses from the public in several different ways — one is verbally, the second is through a questionnaire and we also have a website set up with all the information on for local people to give their opinions.

‘ In two weeks we will have a design team meeting to go through the comments and we will look to account for those in how the scheme evolves.’

Mr Newman added: ‘As a Devon-based family homebuilder, Cavanna Homes has always placed great importance on working with local people to help design developments that not only help to meet local housing need but also deliver wider benefits to the community.

‘In the past we have delivered four schemes in Tavistock; Foundry Mews, Waters Edge, Carmel Gardens, on the site of the old Monastery and Courtlands Road, all of which have been very well received.

‘The information gathered will help to inform an outline planning application which we hope to submit to West Devon Borough Council later this year.’

Dr and Mrs Edmonds are local residents and attended the event.

Mrs Edmonds said: ‘The plans look very nice and well thought out, however, I am worried about the traffic increase especially now that New Launceston Road has been narrowed! Also, with more homes there will be more children, and I wonder where they will go to school because our schools are struggling to handle the amount of children already.’

Dr Edmonds said: ‘We live in Tremayne Rise and we think Courtlands Road should be a 20 mile per hour zone, in fact all of the surrounding area should be a 20 miles per hour zone. That area is all 30 miles per hour at the moment but people still ignore it — that makes me worry about the children crossing the road with the new lot of houses there.’

Mrs Edmonds added: ‘The layout is nice, there is a recreation area and a park and so on; 148 houses — that is a lot of houses, but people need homes and we were told that they would try to make 40% affordable. We have been living in the area for a long time and we have seen a large increase in traffic.’

The dwellings proposed would include an appropriate range of sizes and styles of housing to meet identified local needs.

The plans include the provision of local and strategic infrastructure, for public sport, recreation and play, and to include open space networks for wildlife and water management; use of design principles consistent with the council’s guidance on materials, density, layout and landscaping and reflect the character of development in the surrounding area to create a distinctive, safe, sustainable, high quality development; provision of (or contributions to) on-site or off-site infrastructure requirements associated with the development, as set out in the infrastructure delivery plan or neighbourhood plan.

Developers have also suggested the provision of new connections for vehicles, cycles and pedestrians between the proposed development and the town to support and help ease traffic flows.