RESIDENTS in Lewdown have expressed continuing concerns about a proposed housing development in the village.

West Devon Borough councillors at a recent planning meeting were told residents felt the 15-house development on the old service station site was out of keeping with existing properties and would cause road safety issues in the village.

The planned development will feature a row of town house dwellings, built behind a six-foot high wall with iron railings. The houses will be two storey properties, but some will have rooms on three floors.

The density of properties on the site means garden and parking spaces will be limited and residents feel that children living there would be in danger as they would not have sufficient space in which to play.

Beryl Trumper, chairman of the residents? association, said: ?The houses will have tiny gardens, but they will be surrounded by parking spaces and I feel that is dangerous for children.

?The whole style of the development is more for towns, they might look all right in Tavistock even, but certainly not in a village area as Lewdown is. Although we are on the old A30, we are definitely a rural area.

?The frontage of the development is not in keeping, with iron railings and solid walls to give privacy. In the country if you want privacy in your garden you have hedges, not solid walls. We feel that the whole impact is wrong,? she said.

?None of us in Lewdown have objected to additional housing. Over the past 15 to 20 years we have gone from less than 40 to more than 60 houses, but these additional sites are pushing it to quite a high level.

?We accept that the site will be used for housing, but we would like to see something more suitable ? maybe bungalows like at the other end of the village, or individual houses, maybe even just two or three joined together.

Chairman of Lewdown group parish

council Peter Tinworth

s##aid: ?T#######################################he parish council are opposed to this development. We certainly think it will lead to over development of the village. We are worried that 15 houses will overload local services. All in all we would be much happier with a lower density and something more in keeping with the countryside.?

Tim Holden, of Turner Holden, planning consultants for developers Inova Ltd, said there had been detailed discussions with borough council officers and the scale and form of the development responded to those talks.

The Government required developers to make the best use of previously developed sites and higher density developments were actively encouraged.

?The proposed development will provide a range of houses that are intended to meet the requirements of local people, in a way that larger properties might not.?

The houses had been designed to be ?simple and unfussy, reflecting local character?, he added.

The proposal was the subject of a site meeting last week and will be discussed at the borough council planning meeting on August 19.