Avenues homes scheme opposed by councillors

Plans to build 44 new homes off Douglas Avenue have been opposed by district councillors.

Developer Littleham 2010, a Clinton Devon Estates company, has applied for planning permission to build the new development, known as Douglas Gardens, adjacent to the proposed site of 350 homes at Plumb Park.

Under normal circumstances, a decision on whether to grant permission would have been taken by East Devon District Council’s development management committee (DMC), but before councillors could make a decision the applicants submitted an appeal, on the grounds it had taken too long.

The application will, therefore, be decided by the Planning Inspectorate, but at the most recent DMC meeting, councillors were asked to consider how they would have voted - and went against the scheme.

This was in line with a report by the council’s planning department, which said that the proposal was outside newly-adopted policy, as the proposed site is outside Exmouth’s built-up area boundary.

The report stated: “Whilst we have been waiting for a start date for the appeal from the Planning Inspectorate, East Devon has received back the [East Devon] Local Plan inspector’s report, can demonstrate a five-year housing land supply and has adopted the new East Devon Local Plan.

“As a result of these factors, this report has been amended with the officer recommendation changed to one of refusal.”

Exmouth Town Council had also previously opposed the plan.