People power prompts fresh mull on major housing plan

People power has forced a reassessment of a range of possible housing development sites that had been selected in a major draft planning strategy.

More than 3,500 responses were submitted by East Devon residents expressing concerns about the dozens of potential sites where homes could be developed in coming years. 
Amid the deluge of comments were more than 1,100 people objecting to just one site; the prospective 700 homes on land at St John’s, on the eastern side of Exmouth.
The outpouring of public sentiment came as part of the first round of consultation on the draft local plan being developed by East Devon District Council, which is seeking to decide where roughly 21,000 homes will go all the way out to 2042.
Major fears related to potential harm to the nearby Pebblebed Heaths, which has four different designations aimed at protecting it, including being a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Besides concerns from residents about the heaths, environmental organisations including Devon Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and Natural England also voiced their fears.
Some worried that the Grade II* listed St John in the Wilderness Church could be impacted by such a large development of homes, while others feared heightened flood risk due to the clay soils and upstream location relative to Withycombe Brook.
Members of the strategic planning committee, who are responsible for crafting the local plan, also heard from members of the public at their latest meeting (Tuesday 8 July), with the majority of those speakers outlining their opposition to the St John’s site.
“Councillors should not be talked out of reviewing sites,” said resident Thomas Shillitoe, adding that he thought a previous vote to include the St John’s site was based on “woefully lacking information”.
He added he had recently had to direct traffic after an accident on the B3179, which would be a main route from the proposed housing, claiming the road was “not capable of accommodating even more vehicle movements”.
Nigel Humphrey, another resident, also queried whether the procedures that led to the St John’s site being put forward had been correct.
“It’s not too late to rectify this, as mistakes need to be sorted before the [draft local plan] goes to the inspector.”
And Kerin Hamill said she felt “everyone was still being ignored” in spite of the number of comments against the site.
“The plan is not sound, and the St John’s site goes against many of East Devon’s policies, and speakers here today have explained countless times why you as our councillors should be asking about the procedures that wrongly brought us to this point.”
The strength of feeling from the speakers combined with the groundswell of comments from the public consultation prompted the committee to call for a report looking into whether some sites could be removed from the draft local plan, or tweaked in terms of the number of homes pencilled in.
Councillor Dan Ledger (Independent, Seaton), the portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, proposed that the St John’s site, as well as six others across Whimple, Feniton, Ottery St Mary and Lympstone, be reassessed.
These sites received an above-average level of objections in the public consultation.
“All of the councillors on this committee have a fault in the matter that the St John’s site is where it is at the moment,” he said.
“Most of the people in this room can say ‘yes, this isn’t an ideal site’, and it shouldn’t have been included at the time.
“The officers at the time said it shouldn’t be included and we as members have made that decision to push forward, and we have to be accountable to the members of the public who are making completely valid points.”
Cllr Ledger asked for a report to be presented at its September meeting outlining whether there were any alternative options and what those could be, if any existed, for various sites.
There is no guarantee, however, that alternative options for all of the most controversial sites will be found, or indeed chosen if the strategic planning committee doesn’t back them at its next meeting.
And officers warned the committee that if too much time was taken reassessing sites, then the council could be forced to find locations for even more homes every year during the life of the plan.
At the moment, the council is trying to produce its new local plan within a set timeframe that means it has to target around 21,000 homes by 2042 rather than nearer 26,000 if it overshoots its current window.
“Hitting those higher housing figures would be extremely challenging,” said Ed Freeman, assistant director for planning strategy and development management at East Devon District Council.
“We don’t have a solution as to how we would hit those and so that’s important to understand.”
He added he believed the process that led to the creation of the draft local plan had been “very open and transparent”, which was something “not done when a lot of local plans are created [by other councils]”.
A second round of public consultation is slated for October.