Pankhurst homes plan receives support

Plans to build 50 new homes in Littleham have been backed by district planning officers.

The plan is for the homes, 20 of which will be classed as affordable, to be built in Pankhurst Close, on a site formerly used for a fish processing plant.

A previous plan to build 40 homes there was withdrawn by developers Pankhurst Fish Limited earlier this year, amid concerns about the lack of affordable housing proposed at that time, but the revised application has won the support of Exmouth Town Council, and now East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) planning officers are recommending approval, ahead of a ruling by councillors next week.

In their report, officers say that although the site is designated as employment land, they accept that this would not be viable, and that the council’s lack of an agreed five-year land supply for housing would make it difficult to oppose the residential development.

The developers’ plan is for the new homes to be arranged around three cul-de-sacs, served by a single access off Pankhurst Close.

EDDC’s development management committee will rule on the plan at the Knowle in Sidmouth, Tuesday at 10am.