Plans for more than 100 new homes on green wedge land between Exmouth and Lympstone have sparked flooding fears and concerns the village will join the town.
Residents are being urged to object to a plan for up to 151 homes because opponents claim the site is completely unsuitable, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.
The outline proposal relates to a site on land north of Hulham Road on the outskirts of Exmouth, but that sits in Lympstone parish.
A proposed layout of the potential housing development by Waddeton Park for up to 151 homes in Lympstone, East Devon.
Image: East Devon District Council.
The potential housing development is being proposed by a firm called Waddeton Park, an Exeter-based company with five Devon-based directors that said it had secured planning permission for more than 3,000 homes across the South West.
Resident Andrew Minter called the planning application “speculative” given the site is not included in East Devon District Council’s current local plan, which identifies suitable locations for houses to be built, and that it had been excluded from the emerging replacement local plan that is being drafted.
“The site was rejected because it is not sustainable in terms of access, transport, and sustainable travel,” he wrote on Facebook.
“The developers are holding out that it will be accepted on a ‘tilted balance’ basis as East Devon District Council haven’t got sufficient sites [for new homes].”
Because East Devon has not currently met government requirements for a five-year housing land supply, the so-called tilted balance means its planning committee has to view its housing shortfall as a material factor when considering planning applications.
Mr Minter added that the application posed a “huge flood risk” to Lympstone village, and that it could lead Exmouth and Lympstone to “coalesce”.
“The sites [where the houses are proposed]were rejected as suitable sites for development in the East Devon local plan,” he said.
“The sites were considered unsustainable as Hulham Road is narrow and can’t accommodate pavements or cycle paths, traffic is fast coming into Exmouth on the main route from Woodbury, and the flood risk to Lympstone [exists because]developing the fields [means]water cannot naturally drain.”
He added there were protected trees on the site and that at present, it acted as a natural green break between Exmouth and Lympstone – often called a ‘green wedge’ in planning terms.
“Councillor Paul Hayward had been a firm supporter of the sites but after he visited them, he quickly changed his mind and considered them entirely unsuitable,” Mr Minter said.
“There are no plans for any infrastructure, apart from one bus stop opposite King’s Garden Centre, and sewage and drainage infrastructure has not been considered.”
A letter sent to residents by PCL Planning, the agent for the applicant, said it had proposed a phased development of “circa 150 homes” with access and associated infrastructure.
“The development will provide 25 per cent affordable housing, a range of off-site highway improvements, retention and enhancement of landscape features, ecological provision and significant areas of open space,” the letter from agent Stuart Houlet said.
“The application is in outline with the principle of development and means of access to be determined only at this stage. Detailed layout and design matters will be further considered as part of a subsequent reserved matters application, should outline consent be granted.”
The application was validated on East Devon District Council’s website on Monday 24 November, but there is no date yet for when it will be considered by the council’s planning committee.
