COMPANIES are lining up to develop a 320-home estate on the east side of Okehampton, which will be the largest single housing site in West Devon, planning officers confirmed last week.

But before the plans are finalised, they have to go through a six-week public consultation and be approved by a planning inspector.

At a meeting of the borough's future planning and housing committee, officers said how important it was for the very visible development, which will include a second primary school for the town, to make a positive contribution to Okehampton.

Forward planning officer Chris Dunford said: 'This is the single biggest site we have in the new local plan and it is very important that we get the development on it right.

'We want to achieve some kind of local distinctiveness here, so we know we are in Okehampton and not Oxford or anywhere else for that matter.'

Committee members were told although a development brief for the site had to go before a planning inspector and be published for a further six-week public consultation, developers were taking a 'collective gamble' and conducting assessments of the area.

The development will form part of the West Devon Local Plan, which determines the growth of the borough over the next ten years.

The brief requires that 50% of the units have no more than two bedrooms, 40% should be affordable housing, land should be provided for Okehampton's second primary school, a roundabout on Crediton Road and road link to Exeter Road, plus a significant amount of open space.

Mr Dunford said access to the school was vitally important and although as many children as possible would be encouraged to walk and circle to school, officers still realised how essential cars were to most families living in a rural area like West Devon.

He said the intention was to end up with one large area of open space, which could be shared by the school and residents.

Cllr Nick Morgan said if a link was going to be created to Exeter Road, HGV vehicles should be discouraged from using it as a short cut.

The committee was told that it would be unlikely that other traffic would use the link, because it would not be a very direct route and would have several bends in it.

Cllr Morgan said he did not want to see a 'row of boxes' and said good design was vital.

The need for a second primary school has been identified for a number of years, due to the increase in the population of Okehampton.

Planning officers said it could not be guaranteed that children from the new estate would go to the new school but it would be the natural choice for them.

Cllr Jo Harrison said an alternative site for a new school had been identified in a concept plan for the town by Okehampton architect Peter Woodgate, commissioned by Okehampton Town Council.

The site would be adjacent to the existing primary school at Oaklands and the buildings would form a separate infants and junior school.

Head of planning Stephen Gill said suggestions for a new primary school site would be dealt with through the consultation process.