A CONTROVERSIAL high-density housing scheme for Okehampton, which will surround the town's new hospital, has won support from planners.

West Devon Borough Council's planning committee on Tuesday voted 6-3 to approve the application by Barratt Homes for 52 houses and 25 flats on land off the North Road link.

The imaginative scheme, designed by the same architect as the hospital to be in keeping with it, provoked 67 letters of objection and a petition of 45 names. Main concerns were that the land should be reserved for future expansion of the hospital or for other community uses, lack of parking and play areas and high density.

Deferred at two previous planning meetings for further consideration of affordable housing, planning officer Chris Watson told the committee that an extra five dwellings had been proposed by the applicants to enable the provision of social housing.

Mr Watson said officers were now satisfied with the scheme which would see Barratts providing £100,000 in terms of social housing and infrastructure costs, including drainage and a shared access road with the hospital which had resulted in savings to the Hospital Trust of approximately £150,000.

He said there were two areas on the site which would be suitable for informal play areas for children.

Mid Devon Primary Care Trust said residential developments were considered to be good neighbours to community hospitals and there was space on the site for future expansion of the hospital should it be needed beyond 2011.

Cllr Jayne Hill said this application had created a sense of animosity in Okehampton and one of the major worries was parking which she said would be a 'huge problem'. Her comments were reiterated by Cllr Joan Pauley: '1.5 spaces per household is totally insufficient. Yes, we are a town, but a very rural one and 99 per cent of people need to have vehicles.

'There is going to be overcrowding and it is going to have a dramatic effect on parking in the locality and around the hospital.'

The whole site at North Road link was designated in the District Local Plan as a 60/40 per cent split between housing and commercial. Planning officers explained that there had been a departure from the local plan when the commercial element was substituted by the hospital — this was advertised and accepted by Government Office South West with council members' wishes.

Councillors were told there was no further departure from the local plan as the housing element did not exceed 60 per cent of the site.

Cllr Hill questionned why the hospital had not replaced the housing element so the remainder of the site could be used for business purposes, but she was told there was a planned expansion to the Exeter Road Industrial Estate which would cater for new business.

'Has there been adequate consultation on what appears to be a change to the local plan and how independent is the Government Office South West?' she asked.

But chairman of the committee Roger Mathew said members were on to a loser if they tried to refuse the application over this issue.

'The departure refers to the commercial element — there could only be an argument to turn this application down if the residential area proposed was bigger than 60 per cent,' he said.

Mr Mathew told members the density of housing — 47 per hectare — and parking space was in line with Government guidelines for town centres.