Plans for 15 new homes in Otterton have been approved by East Devon District Council.

The homes, ten of which will be ‘affordable’, will be built on land in Ottery Street, adjacent to North Star Engineering.

North Star had previously objected to the plan, saying occupants of the new homes would be affected by noise from the business.

The Otter Valley Association also objected, saying the plan would adversely affect the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

However, at a meeting last week, district councillors voted to approve the plan, subject to a Section 106 agreement being agreed.

At that meeting, Otterton Parish councillors said they had no objection to the homes being built, however they did have concerns about pedestrian access to the site – concerns which were not addressed by the committee’s decision.

Councillor Tony Bennett, who addressed the meeting about the issue, said that a plan for the same site in 2007 had been withdrawn due to concerns about pedestrian access being raised by highways officers, and therefore questioned why the new plan for the site was approved without a footpath being provided.

He said: “We felt that the road… was very narrow and rather dangerous. I felt that because there are going to be ten affordable homes, the inference was there would be young families with young children who would need to walk along the road to facilities in the village.

“Because that road is used as a sort of short cut between Exmouth and Sidmouth, at rush hour the traffic is extremely heavy.”