Three potential housing sites in Honiton look set to be scrapped from a major future homes plan.
A total of 111 possible new homes have been ditched across three proposed sites in the town as part of a review of an East Devon-wide plan.
Planners at East Devon District Council have suggested two sites on land adjacent to St MIchael’s Church -which were being eyed up for 101 homes – and a site at Middle Hill, where 10 homes could have been built, should be removed from the emerging local plan.
This is a document that aims to identify where possible new homes can be built across East Devon between now and the early 2040s.
Even though the three sites are set to be deleted in Honiton, the town’s two other proposed sites look set to be augmented to take on more homes to make up for the shortfall.
The two sites on the town’s eastern edge, are near Northcote Hill, with one being north of the railway line and one to the south.
The larger site to the south of the railway was being chalked up for 100 homes, but now planners expect it could take 195.
East Devon said it had initially decided to put a lower number of homes on this site due to concerns about the narrow access under the railway bridge, which it thought “may constrain safe and efficient movement to and from the site”.
“Further work, however, indicates the potential to acceptably increase capacity in a reasonable, landscape-sensitive way,” a report by officers stated.
“Also the increase reflects Devon County Council’s view that a larger development could help deliver improvements to walking, cycling and bus access, which are currently poor.
“They also advise that impacts on the road network are likely to be negligible.”
Meanwhile, the site to the north of the railway site that was being viewed as able to take 100 homes now looks likely to be increased to 115.
East Devon’s strategic planning committee will meet next week (Tuesday 2 September) to discuss the proposed changes.
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