THE public in Tavistock are being invited to have their say over a large new housing development being proposed for the northern side of the town.

The meeting has been called by Tavistock Town Council and concerns plans to develop more than 130 houses on the old Tavistock Manor site.

Rosie Kehoe, deputy town clerk, said the council had received a great deal of representations about the proposals and decided a town meeting would be appropriate, given the size of the development.

She said: ?The major concern that people seem to have concerns the extra traffic that will be generated ? there has also been concern about owls and bats at the site and the possibility of flooding.?

Mrs Kehoe said representatives of Westbury Homes and Wimpey, the two companies which have been linked with the site, have been invited to attend the meeting, which will be held in Tavistock Town Hall on Monday October 25.

An outline planning application regarding access to the site is due to be heard by West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee in either November or December. It does not include housing numbers or design, although an accompanying sketch indicates 133 dwellings.

Jane Green, West Devon?s planning services manager, said officers were still waiting for some outstanding reports regarding the site ? realistically, it was more likely to be considered in December.

A previous outline application by Wimpey and Westbury Homes was submitted to the borough a year ago. It concerned access to the site in Old Launceston Road, via a new roundabout opposite Inswell Court. It was rejected as premature because the site was not included in the current local plan ? however, the new local plan, in which the Manor site is earmarked for up to 140 houses, is likely to be formally adopted early in the New Year.

Ms Green said: ? The local plan review goes through a lot of stages before adoption and each stage it goes through, it gathers more weight.

?It?s further along the road now ? It?s in the hands of the committee but it might be difficult to take the view that it?s premature now.?

The meeting begins at 7pm ? all are welcome.