THE people of Okehampton should ?get up and shout now!? That is the message from the town council, as Okehampton faces a development of 500 new homes on land between Exeter Road and Crediton Road. The town council and Okehampton Hamlets Council have succeeded in extending the deadline for comments about the proposed development to be sent to West Devon planners from June 29 until July 6. This will allow just enough time for a public meeting to be held in the town, to gather opinions, on July 5. The councils want residents to write to West Devon Council, expressing concerns, and to speak out at the meeting ? before it is too late to make a difference. Okehampton mayor Tony Leech said: ?It?s important that people come and have their say. ?We?ve invited Geoffrey Cox, prospective MPs, and the planners to the meeting, in fact anybody who might have some influence. ?So now?s the time to act if you want to have any effect on what Okehampton will be like in the future.? He and other councillors are concerned about the amount of extra traffic the proposed development will bring to the town, putting extra strain on the already busy road system, and inadequate parking provision. It is feared the new houses will cause severe traffic problems around the Exeter Road-Barton Road junction going into the town from the east. Chairman of Okehampton Hamlets Council Derek Webber said: ?The Barton Road junction is already horrendous ? it?ll just get worse with this new development. ?If we?re not careful, people will stop going into Okehampton to shop because the traffic is so bad. ?The planners don?t seem to quite realise the impact 500 houses in one block will have on the town. They appear to want to build the extra houses and think about the infrastructure afterwards.? Both councils are calling for a major link road to be constructed between Exeter Road and Crediton Road if the development goes ahead. The plans for proposed development include only a normal estate road ? or spine road ? linking Exeter Road and Crediton Road. Cllr Webber is concerned this will cause more problems: ?I can see a nightmare situation ensuing. There?ll be heavy traffic trying to use that road as a rat-run, while kiddies are playing right beside it on the new estate.? But Cllr Leech says the answer is not as simple as demanding that the builders provide a proper link road. ?You cannot ask a developer to provide a big link road if they?re not putting in anything industrial,? he said. ?We?re talking several million pounds for the kind of road we need. These builders are putting in a contribution to the beginning of it, but we can?t ask for more from them.? He stressed that it was important for people to come along to the meeting next Thursday to learn why exactly such easy solutions aren?t the answer. ?We will not just stop this development. Government strategy means we have to have these new houses. But we need to let West Devon planners know we?ve had enough. We have to have the infrastructure in place before we allow more development. ?It?s no good just having the fourteen councillors write to the planners ? we need a thousand people to write in.? There is also concern about the effect 500 new families will have on Okehampton Primary School. Part of the plan for the new development includes the provision of a second primary school for the town, but that does not appear likely to open until well after the houses are occupied. Deputy mayor Cllr Kay Bickley said: ?The school is already at capacity. There?s going to be a delay effect that will mean a real squeeze on existing resources. The houses will arrive and the children will arrive and we?ll all have to cope until the new school is ready. ?We all understand that decisions are coming from on high and that West Devon are having to act on the directives of central government. ?But at the end of the day it is the West Devon planners who will pass this development or not ? and it is those planners who need to hear our views.? Edna Hicks, who was recently voted onto West Devon Council, added: ?We?ve needed a second primary school for years. To only offer it to us now, along with these new houses, feels like blackmail. There?s an awful lot of bad feeling about it.? ?People who live here don?t want the town changed. Why can?t they put these 500 houses out of town as a separate hamlet, instead of spoiling what we?ve got?? West Devon and county Cllr Christine Marsh said: ?We really need affordable housing here in Okehampton, but with the current political situation we can only have that if we have other housing. ?The same goes for education and health care facilities.? And in response to demands for a link road she stressed: ?It?s just a fact of life that the West Devon highways department doesn?t have any money.? She urged Okehampton residents to write to the environment directorate and to lobby the government. The public meeting at which the town?s views will be presented to planners is on July 5 at 7pm in the Charter Hall. The town and hamlet councils are asking that letters on the issue should be sent before then to: Jane Hart, chief planning officer, West Devon Borough Council, Kilworthy Park, Tavistock, PL19 0BZ.
