FEAR of increased traffic levels is the biggest concern over the proposed development of 130 houses at the old Tavistock Manor site.

More than 120 members of the public attended a town meeting chaired by mayor Jenny Metcalf and joined by Cllr Martin Taylor, chairman of the town?s planning committee, on Monday.

Anxieties were voiced over a development plan that, if granted, would have a powerful impact on the town?s infrastructure.

But there were particular worries about the effect more traffic would have on the already busy Old Launceston Road and Spring Hill.

Robin Burnham said the proposed estate would be double the size of Tree Tops and create ?something like treble the traffic?.

He said: ?This will put traffic into the existing estate roads. There will be problems with storm water and maybe sewage.?

Roderick Martin said with 130 houses there would be ?several hundred? car movements a day.

?At peak times there will be two to three car movements a minute. You are talking about a lot of cars,? he said.

Town and West Devon Borough Cllr Mandy Govier said the developers were obliged to give 47 new homes to the town.

She said: ?That is worth £2-million to the borough. The developer has to provide them as part of the site. They have also been asked to provide new bus services in the town.

?We all know that people in this area cannot afford to buy their homes. Imagine 47 families being able to have a new home.?

Ms Govier advised people to visit the borough offices to look at the plans and see what the developers were offering.

Colin Durant said there were many things against the proposals. He said water flowing down Bannawell Street was already excessive and felt it would be made worse by taking away the green fields.

?No one has thought about the wild life. Everybody is talking about money. Why don?t we say we are not going to have this? Look in the estate agents? windows, there are hundreds of houses for sale in Tavistock ? why do we need another 130??

Brian Fyfield-Shaylor, co-ordinator of the Tavistock Tree Preservation Group, said he had been on a site visit accompanied by a borough council tree officer and said there was a ?very comprehensive policy? of tree conservation.

Deborah Langsford was concerned about increased trafffic filtering towards Spring Hill which was ?a dangerous road already?.

?We should try to find ways to block this estate rather than try and find ways to accommodate it,? she said.

West Devon Cllr Dick Eberlie reasured the meeting that there was a limit set by the local plan. He said if there were changes put forward they would have to be approved.

Mr Eberlie said of the three new housing estates on the edge of town this was ?probably the most controversial because it was on the wrong side.?

Norma Woodcock said moving the exit into the New Launceston Road would be part of the solution.

?I?d like to propose a major exit into Launceston Road but no down traffic into the town from the Toll House.?

Cllr Martin Taylor, said the developers ? Wimpey and Westbury Homes who submitted a previous outline application to the borough a year ago ? were invited to the meeting along with their consultants but had chosen not to attend.

Cllr Metcalf said the opinions aired at the evening had provided a great deal of feedback.

?There are a lot of discussions and deliberations to go through before a decision is reached,? she added.

An outline planning application regarding access to the site is due to be heard by West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee later this year.