THE application for a new housing development of 12 age-restricted dwellings in Tavistock is due to be submitted to West Devon Borough Council (WDBC) next month.

At a recent Tavistock Town Council meeting, Tuesday, May 10, Blue Cedar Homes planning manager Bill Richardson presented a housing development application for Lower Trendle, Mount Kelly.

The planning application, which would be nearly opposite the new pool at Kelly College, is expected to be logged with WDBC in early June and is a joint venture between Blue Cedar Homes and Mount Kelly.

Mr Richardson said: ’I will be meeting planning officers later this week, I will be speaking with neighbours as well. The site has been allocated for the residential development of up to 15 homes in the WDBC Our Plan and the plan does acknowledge the benefits this particular site can offer.

’The entrance to the development would be via access of the Adventure Centre. The housing estate would be of specialist, open market homes but age restricted for 55-year-olds or over and this would be secured in the section 106 agreement and the cover on the land. Most of our homes are built with round floor shower rooms, adaptable spaces and downstairs bedrooms – the developments are built to not force a move if the owner is struggling with illness.

’Generally our residents are not of working age so the traffic around the development would be much lower than a typical housing development. We offer heavily landscaped gardens which are generally smaller than private plot gardens – we can also offer garden maintenance which takes away the burden of housing maintenance.’

Mr Richardson said that Blue Cedar Homes encourage right sizing, meaning that older people living in larger family homes move into move appropriate sized houses.

He added: ’The cluster of 12 homes would be of varying sizes and we have also planned a community amenity landscape garden. The houses are in a cottage style and make use of roof space, which also gives them a lower height. They have slate roofs, boundary treatment, timber facing and stone detailing.’

Following the presentation, several town councillors raised concerns relating to the development.

Councillor Anne Johnson said: ’Access by the adventure centre is difficult with the traffic and most of the traffic moves at towards the top of the speed limit. I acknowledge improvements from a swimming pool entrance.’

Mr Richardson said that there is only a small amount of options for work that can be done to ease the traffic without affecting the heritage in the area and that the highways safety regulations have been met for the site.

Cllr Johnson added: ’We have often heard that Devon County Highways are satisfied with the safety but that doesn’t mean it works.’

Cllr Paul Ward said that for an age restricted development the houses were slightly out of town, adding that he believed there wasn’t a direct footpath to the site and inquired as to the possibilities of extending the footpath nearby.

Mr Richardson replied: ’That wouldn’t be needed as there is a continuous public footpath to the development and it is also in a good location for public transport. The site was considered well located to the town centre else it wouldn’t have been identified – the scheme is likely to attract a younger retired market as it isn’t in the town centre but does have a flat walk into town.’

West Devon Borough Council leader and Tavistock Cllr Philip Sanders inquired as to whether the development would be a gated community.

Mr Richardson added: ’There is potential for a gate – in this scenario there are parents dropping off kids so there is a lot of demand for parking so that is something we are looking at. However we don’t want to create a conflict between the school and the scheme.’