A PLEA to treat the residents living on Tavistock's relief road 'in a fair and honourable way' has been made as plans are formed to market one of the town's most valuable sites.

West Devon Borough Council's outstanding obligation to provide Dolvin Road residents with parking spaces is the major bone of contention in its plans to sell the former Abbey Garage site.

The residents lost their on-street parking when Tavistock got its relief road six years ago. At the time, they were promised by the borough council that when the nearby Abbey Garage site was sold replacement spaces would be included in the redevelopment.

At last week's planning committee meeting, members were asked to adopt the planning brief of the site although planning officers said the shape, variation in levels and traffic safety were significant restraints.

'The objective of achieving an attractive and appropriate development on this important site is difficult to reconcile with requests for additional parking,' said planning services manager Jane Green.

'Whilst the provision of parking spaces for existing nearby residents will be welcomed if this can be achieved as part of an acceptable overall scheme, such provision will not be regarded as essential in planning terms.'

Speaking at the planning committee meeting, chairman Cllr Roger Mathew said the proposal to sell the site had generated a great deal of response from the residents who saw it as 'diluting West Devon Borough Council's committment to providing parking'.

He said the remit lay with the strategic development committee and challenged it to 'grasp the nettle'.

'It is time the strategic development committee addressed the vexed issue of how to solve the problem of Dolvin Road residents,' he said.

And Cllr Dick Eberlie asked for a full council discussion.

'This simply must be sorted out,' he said.

Members agreed to adopt the draft planning brief on a provisional basis subject to the strategic development committee's long-term resolution of the Dolvin Road residents' parking issue.

Ward member Cllr Ted Sherrell wrote to the committee and said: 'To honour this pledge would be a reasonable straightforward undertaking as it would not require a vast amount of space — thus leaving Abbey Garage site available to be developed and used for other purposes.

'I do hope that the committee will ensure that a wrong is righted and the residents of Dolvin Road are treated in a fair and honourable way.'

Residents Penelope and Graeme Barclay, who have three children, have asked the borough council to provide ten spaces on land next to the cemetery wall.

'We have used this site before when the relief road was being done, we know it works,' said Mrs Barclay.

'There isn't another site available and this one is so much more convenient. I wouldn't have to drag the children down a main road every time I parked in the Abbey Rise car park.

The stragetic development committee's next meeting is on October 10 when the subject of parking for Dolvin Road residents will be on the agenda, promised its chairman Nick Morgan.