Last minute hitch halts Newton Abbot road debate

More time needed to digest new report

Plans for the latest phase in a controversial Devon ‘new town’ development were pulled from a council meeting at the last minute today.

Teignbridge's planning committee had been due to decide on proposals for a road in the middle of the Wolborough Barton site on the outskirts of Newton Abbot.

It would have been the latest component in a project which will see more than 1,200 new homes built on green fields to the south of the town in a development known as NA3.

But committee chairman Colin Parker (Lib Dem, Buckland and Milber) announced that the road plan had been taken off the agenda after paperwork arrived at the eleventh hour.

It is understood the council received documents from opponents of the scheme which raised questions about its legality.

Cllr Parker explained that councillors, officers and developers needed time to examine the new information.

He went on: “It is logical, and indeed imperative, that officers, the applicant and Natural England should be given the opportunity to read and comprehend it.

“It cannot be done at such short notice.”

The road plans will come back to the planning committee at a future meeting.

Wolborough Barton - approved by a planning inspector in 2021 - will have 1,210 new homes on hilly countryside site between Decoy and Ogwell. Developers say it will address the need for homes in the area, while objectors say it is over-development that will destroy open countryside.

In addition to the homes, it will have a new primary school, employment land and community facilities including a day nursery and a health centre. There will be a shopping centre, play area, allotments and a multi-use games area, as well as a link road connecting the A380 and the A381.

Full planning permission has already been given to convert Wolborough Barton farmhouse into a boutique hotel, restaurant and bar.

The application which was due to be considered before Tuesday’s last-minute hitch was for 720 metres of road through the centre of the site. Objections include fears for wildlife around the ‘fragile ecosystem’ of Wolborough Fen, which is a site of special scientific interest.