AN application for 250 new homes on land at Plymouth Road in Tavistock was given a neutral view by planners at Tavistock Town Council, despite their concerns that too many housing developments were coming forward.

The town council’s development management and licensing committee at a meeting on Tuesday considered the application by Linden Homes for 250 houses and two hectares of commercial space on land opposite the Bishopsmead estate area.

The town council is asked for its comments as a consultee but the final decision lies with West Devon Borough Council.

The committee felt that as the land had already been allocated as a site for housing in the emerging Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan (the blueprint for development for the next 15 years for Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon which is currently under consultation), they could not refuse the application as that land was already allocated for housing and employment space.

However, councillors were keen to add their concerns about some areas of the application in their response to West Devon Borough Council.

Cllr Paul Ward said: ‘I think this is a very interesting application given the current level of housing development applications that are coming through. This site is allocated in in the Joint Local Plan for up to 250 houses and employment land, which is exactly what this application is proposing.

‘Given that the site does appear on the Joint Local Plan, it is likely that it will be approved. But, that’s not to say there can’t be any objections to it. What we need to think about is what we see as being essential criteria for making this development acceptable and palatable for us and let them know.’

Concerns which will be relayed back to the borough council include the inadequate road infrastructure in the town to cope with more traffic; the lack of available spaces at doctors surgeries, dentists and primary and secondary schools; the fact that the houses would be built before the employment land would be in use; the apparent lack of waste or recycling provision in the application; that there was no footpath or crossing suggested; also that most people would be working in Plymouth, meaning to exit the site, cars would have to make a right turn across the flow of traffic.

The committee’s recommendation will be put before a full meeting of Tavistock Town Council for approval on January 22.

The meeting on Tuesday was preceeded by a presentation by West Devon Borough Councillor Graham Parker and borough council officer Richard Grant, who lead the Joint Local Plan for West Devon, to provide an update to the town council about the progress of the plan and allow for questions to be asked.

The plan is now in its final stages and inspectors are currently deciding whether any further changes are required. If not, they will give their final report and then the plan is expected to be adopted by all three councils, anticipated to be in March.

The councillors were told that when the plan is adopted, they would be in a ‘different world’ of decision making and they would be able to take a ‘tougher stance’ on applications, reducing the likelihood of plans being approved on appeal.

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In terms of infrastructure improvement, they said there were contributions from developers (Section 106 agreements) but no firm plans on what to spend it on as yet.