Appeal over 93 homes at Beacon Heath, Exeter

Development has been turned down

An appeal has been lodged against a decision to refuse up to 93 new homes on a greenfield site on the edge of Exeter.

The application for land near Beacon Heath, off Spruce Close and Celia Crescent, was rejected in October because of concerns about the homes’ impact on the landscape and setting of the city.

Hundreds of objections were made and a protest held against the development submitted by Devon firm Salter Property. It had been revised down from an original 105 homes after adjoining fields were allocated for an area to be called ‘New Valley Park.’

This week’s city council planning committee was told of the appeal and how the authority’s officers would be working on providing a “robust defence” of the decision.

Just minutes before, the committee had refused another application for up to 100 houses to be built on the city’s northern green fields – next to Pendragon Road and in close proximity to Mincinglake Valley Park.

The masterplan for the Celia Crescent development

Development on the two sites goes against the council’s policy of protecting the green fields around the city, with leader Phil Bialyk (Labour, Exwick) saying at his budget speech in February: “We don’t want urban sprawl – we want sustainable living in the city.”

When the Celia Crescent application was refused last year, Cllr Bialyk added: “I am totally committed to saving the hills around Exeter, as I have said. They are so important to us. It is an important amenity space. We have to protect it for the residents of Exeter.”

The planning committee unanimously rejected it despite being recommended to support the plan by officers, who said the 10 hectares of public open space was “far more than a typical residential development of this scale.”

Their report added: “This land will be secured in perpetuity, benefitting not just current, but future generations as well. It will effectively stop any further development encroachment into the countryside in this part of the city.”

In a letter to address previous concerns, director of the development company Peter Salter said: “A major concern for residents is loss of open space. This to me is not a sustainable argument as currently residents walk around private land, without permission. At any point in the future the landowner could decide to close off his land.”

“For example, to enable him to place cattle in the fields, which would mean an end to public access. Whereas if the application is approved, it will provide a far greater area as new valley park in perpetuity. This guarantees the exact thing that is a major concern of local residents, public open space.”

Stagecoach also wrote to the council in support of the scheme, with the plan including £90,000 to extend the F1 bus route. The operator suggested the development would also improve access to buses for other people living in the immediate vicinity.

But speaking against the proposal last year, Councillor Naima Allcock (Labour, Micinglake & Whipton – the ward of the proposed scheme) said that existing problems with the F1 service meant it was unlikely to reduce car use generated by the development and buses going up the road every half-hour would “dramatically increase congestion.”

She said it was a “car-led development, cut off from community amenities and built on the very land that our vision says will be safeguarded from development.”

The application contained provision for 32 affordable homes, which Councillor Ruth Williams (Labour, Mincinglake & Whipton) said had made ruling on it “quite challenging” and pointed to the number of people on a waiting list for housing in Exeter.

“I know there were many hundreds of objections to this, but I think we also have to bear in mind all those thousands of people who aren’t seeing these planning applications and they won’t be supporting it, because they’re desperate for somewhere to live,” Cllr Williams said last year, before concluding that she would refuse the application.

Councillor Rob Hannaford (Labour, St Thomas) also said the application was too car-driven despite its bus plan and pointed to existing problems with services in the area. He questioned whether developer contributions to schools and health services would go to the areas needed.

The committee will find out the result of the appeal in due course.