Countryside campaigner Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Devon is hosting a seminar in Tavistock next month amid growing concerns in the area about the scale of current and future housing development and whether these plans provide the number and kind of homes that are really needed.

The Devon branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England is holding the event called ‘Is the scale of housing development right for South West Devon?’ at the Bedford Hotel on Friday, February 8 from 10am to 1pm.

Penny Mills, director of CPRE Devon, said: ‘We have chosen to hold this event in West Devon’s largest market town because we, like local residents, are concerned about the volume of new homes planned in this and neighbouring areas.

‘People rightly have many questions about the number of planned new home, sustainability, the location and size of developments and the affordability of housing for local people. There’s also growing concern over the loss of more of Devon’s green fields to housing development.’

The guest speaker at the Tavistock housing seminar is Tom Jones, lead planner with South Hams and West Devon councils, who will be providing an update on the Plymouth and SW Devon Joint Local Plan.

CPRE Devon’s Dr. Philip Bratby will be presenting the key finding of the Devon Housing Needs Report, which was unveiled in October, and his own report ‘A review of Government Housing Policy and its impact on Devon’.

The seminar announcement comes just days after Tavistock’s mayor Cllr Paul Ward warned that the scale of housing development given the green light could ‘destroy what is special about the town’.

Places must be booked in advance. For full details, visit www.cpredevon.org.uk