Tiverton new homes plan thrown out

Application for 150 properties rejected

Plans to extend a business park and build up to 150 homes on the outskirts of Tiverton have been roundly rejected by councillors.

Developer Waddeton Park Ltd had hoped to expand the existing Hartnoll Business Centre near Tiverton Golf Club and build new housing next to it. The plans also included a new access road from Post Hill.

The new housing would have bordered the edge of the new Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension (EUE) where hundreds of new homes are being constructed.

But Mid Devon District Council’s planning committee unanimously refused the application on Wednesday [18 January]. Reasons included that no affordable housing would be provided, it would harm the landscape, and because other required information hadn’t been provided.

The planning officer’s report did say the proposed extension to the existing business park would be considered acceptable in principle “subject to appropriate landscape mitigation,” but this was included in the same single application as the housing which meant both were refused.

Nobody on behalf of the applicant appeared to speak at the meeting, but two local ward councillors objected.

Councillor Rob Furmedge, vice chairman of Halberton Parish Council, said it was against the local plan. Increased traffic, a “detrimental” impact on the nearby Grand Western Canal Country Park and the application not being in any local development plans were some of their reasons for objecting.

Meanwhile, in a statement read at the meeting, district councillor Ray Radford (Conservative, Halberton) said the application fell foul of several planning policies and urged committee members to reject it.

“The site is not allocated for development in the Mid Devon local plan. I, as well as the parish council, also consider that there is adequate land already designated to enable housing targets to be met throughout the Tiverton EUE.”

He added: “The site was originally developed as part of a scheme to permit limited farm diversification. We do not consider an application for businesses units and 150 houses can be deemed to fall under the wording ‘limited farm diversification.'”

Members of the committee agreed, rejecting the scheme unanimously.