CONCERNS over the suspected traffic increase generated by the proposed 750 new homes off Callington Road in Tavistock were voiced at a meeting in the town last week.

Town council members heard how an outline planning application for the homes had been approved by West Devon Borough Council at its July meeting.

The application by Bovis Homes Ltd is for a mixed use development comprising up to 750 dwellings, a primary school site, a local convenience store, railway station, related development and associated structure, including drawings for a new vehicular and pedestrian access from the A390.

But the increase in traffic on the A390 caused concern for one councillor.

Cllr Anne Johnson said: ‘Callington Road doesn’t currently cope with traffic at peak times.

‘All heavy goods vehicles from Cornwall use this route to get to Tavistock. The addition of 750 new homes and the associated daily vehicle journeys associated with each property on the Callington Road site will make a difficult at times situation much worse, with long delays at peak times.

‘While traffic experts don’t see it as a problem they are not the people who have to deal with it on a daily basis.’

The Highways Agency says it has no objections to the proposals.

The county highway authority said the provision of a single roundabout off Callington Road would be sufficient to access the site. Off-highway works required include improvements at the A390 Callington Road junction; the Ford Street roundabout; Drake Statue roundabout and Pixon Lane roundabout.

A spokesman for Bovis Homes said: ‘We have consulted extensively on our proposals for Callington Road, which has been the LPA’s preferred option site for a number of years and a transport solution for the west side of Tavistock–Plymouth was a key driver for the promotion of the site.

‘Subsequently and at a more local level, transport and highway safety has been one of the key issues we have addressed, taking on board local feedback and working with specialists to develop plans which help to deliver an infrastructure that will support this exciting new development.

‘The development is linked to the reinstatement of the Bere Alston to Tavistock rail line, a long-held goal for rail users and local businesses, which will itself be a key part of the transport proposals and mitigate against excessive traffic on the A390.

‘Excellent pedestrian and cycle links will also feature, helping to make this a well-designed, high quality modern community of which the town can be proud.’

An increase in build costs since the initial planning application — submitted by Bovis Homes Ltd in 2013 — and a greater awareness of constraints of the site, since the handover of the planning from their regional office to their Exeter operational office, led to concerns over the viability of the proposal.

The identification of higher ‘abnormals costs’, estimated at a total of £8-million, centred around increased costs of mitigating contamination and the engineering works relating to cut and fill across the site.

This has resulted in a reduction of the section 106 contributions — affordable housing provision has been reduced from 20% to 17% and there was also a reduction from £13.27million to £11.5million in contributions towards the reinstatement of the railway.

A spokesperson for West Devon Borough Council said: ‘The outline planning permission has been granted subject to the signing of the section 106 agreement [a condition set by the planning authority].

‘Once issued this will enable the next stages of the planning process to proceed where the detailed applications, known as reserved matters applications, would be submitted for consideration by West Devon Borough Council as the local planning authority.’