New Lympstone homes approved

Plans to build 15 homes on the edge of Lympstone have been approved by East Devon District Council.

The scheme to build the homes – 10 of which will be affordable – between Glebelands and Strawberry Hill, drew opposition from local residents, and from the parish council.

Central to their objections – and those of Woodbury and Lympstone district councillor Ben Ingham – was that the site was outside the village’s development boundary, and other more suitable sites would soon come forward.

They also criticised the proposed access to the site and its distance from the village centre.

However, most members of the district council’s development management committee felt that they could only judge the Glebelands plan on its own merits, not based on other sites that might come forward in the future.

They passed the scheme by a majority of eight to four, in line with the recommendations of the council’s housing officers.

Councillor David Key said: “We should be dealing with [this application]. None of these other sites are listed to come for decision today. As affordable housing champion I greatly look forward to affordable housing being built.”

Councillor Geoff Chamberlain said: “I can’t think of any other occasion where we’ve been asked to consider an application and people have come forward and said we’ve got to refuse it as other people might possibly come forward with houses.”

Opposing the application, Cllr Ingham criticised housing officers for dismissing the sites put forward by Lympstone Parish Council.

He said: “Lympstone Parish Council are absolutely furious with [the planning officers’] report, with what they say is disrespect for the evidence they put into the neighbourhood plan.

“This community is not saying no to housing. It’s saying no to this site and yes to several others.”