The Chairman
then introduced Nick Yeo of Blue Cedar Homes who outlined the
proposal for development on land to the rear of Eastfield.
The area is
circa 7.2 acres - with the gift of circa 1 acre to the school
along with the intended provision of a building for the school
and a footpath through to McColls. This leaves 6.2 acres for
development with circa 8 properties per acre. The area is
naturally sub divided – one will contain homes for retirement, a
second for family homes and affordable dwellings.
The retirement homes would benefit from a range of management and
maintenance services to be provided by the Blue Cedar homes
management company.
Questions from
the floor followed which were answered by Mr Yeo. He indicated
that the firm is two years old and backed by Eagle One Limited.
This site at Eastfield is owned by two people at present but
Blue Cedar have control of its development. The proposed
retirement housing and open market sale family housing will be
available on a freehold basis. He indicated that the final
density and percentages were not fixed and discussions with DCC
and EDDC were ongoing. He pointed out that the government
guidelines were 30 dwellings per hectare but this density would
be out of keeping with West Hill. He was grateful for a comment
from one resident that the area was well known for its springs
and potential flooding and he assured the residents that the
existing woodland would remain.
At this point
Cllr Bloxham said that it was encouraging and refreshing that
the developer had chosen to meet the residents early in the
process. He also indicated that Devon had to provide 40%
affordable housing but not every development had to meet this
percentage as it could be spread over the district. He stated
that the new Local Development Framework will be in place by
2012 and any Exception Application between now and then would go
to the Secretary of State. Cllr. Wright then expressed concern
that, as this development would be outside the Built Up Area
Boundary, it could set a very dangerous precedent and Cllr.
Giles expressed concern that it could also undermine the
planning system.
Mr Yeo
indicated that discussions about effects on the school and the
construction of a path from the development to the school and
McColls were ongoing. Questions relating to access and increased
traffic followed which raised several contentious issues and
clearly need further discussion, but this ended the open
session. The chairman thanked Mr Yeo for attending and leading
the discussion. He also indicated that there would be more time
dedicated to the development – a display and discussion day
sponsored by Blue Cedar on 8th January in the Village
Hall followed by a resident’s meeting on the 15th January. This
meeting would gather resident’s reactions to the development and
a vote would be taken. The chairman reminded the residents that
only members of the association would be allowed to vote.
