Acorn Property Group’s outline planning application to build up to 65 new houses in Chillington has been approved by South Hams District Council’s development management committee.

But campaign group Chillington Housing Action Team have requested Sajid Javid MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to ‘call in’ the application for scrutiny.

The meeting, on Wednesday, March 15 saw the DMC voting seven votes to three, passing the motion to grant “outline planning authority” to Acorn’s plans for the land to the rear of Green Park Way.

The application is for permission to build up to 65 houses, the bulk of which would be open market properties, along with 35 per cent affordable homes and a minimum of ten retirement houses.

Stokenham Parish Council objected to the application on the grounds of the adverse impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the potential flooding risk, the impact on neighbours in the village along with the significant local opposition to the scheme.

Frogmore and Sherford Parish Council also objected, citing the traffic problems on the A379, the need for only affordable homes and the possibility of problems with drainage and flooding.

The application also received 285 objections from members of the public

Devon County Council raised no objection from a flooding perspective, saying that “concerns had been addressed.” Devon Highways also raised no objections in regard to the traffic impact of the development.

At the DMC meeting, Mick Garrod from CHAT told the committee that many in the village “bitterly object” to the plans, drawing attention to the greenfield location, its position above the village, the site being outside the edge of the village and agreed development boundary, the high number of objections and particularly the 60 days of flooding in the village over the past 12 months.

Harry Sedman, development manager at the Acorn Property Group described the plans as providing “much needed new homes for local people”. He drew attention to the £600,000 of Section 106 money for education, highways and public open spaces, along with offering solutions for flooding - including replacing a fractured pipe on Green Park Way. He described the local opposition as “normal” and emphasised that the benefits outweigh the concerns raised.

Green Party Cllr Jacqi Hodgson asked Mr Sedman what would be done to mitigate the effects of climate change. He responded that the houses would be “super insulated”, and they were looking at the possibility of installing solar panels and ground heating.

Conservative Cllr Judy Pearce stated there were no planning reasons to object to the application, but Liberal Democrat Cllr Julian Brazil recommended refusal, citing the visual and unneighbourly impact on Green Park Way, the flooding risk and strain on infrastructure.

Ultimately, the committee voted to approve the application, with seven votes to three and one abstention.

This week, a spokesman for the Chillington Housing Action Team said: “We are all bitterly disappointed that such a decision could be made. Three new developments in the village have already delivered 62 dwellings in the past five years or so, in actual fact, we have already exceeded the full Stokenham parish quota of 50 houses in the council’s adopted rural areas development plan.

“CHAT and more than 300 other residents from teenagers to those in their 80s and 90s passionately objected to many of the material planning considerations.

“The site has many planning issues which all of the DMC councillors were made aware of prior to the meeting.

The spokesman continued: “In the present drainage plans, any surface water discharged from the highway drains on this site will flow into a watercourse behind Meadowside which is a Flood Zone 3 high risk area and will cause more flooding, not only in Chillington but also in the downstream village of Frogmore as well. This looks and feels like we have all been well and truly ‘stitched up’.

“CHAT has submitted a report to the National Planning Casework Unit in Birmingham, requesting that the Secretary of State gives consideration to "call in" the application for scrutiny.”

“CHAT and the Chillington residents await the response from the secretary of state with interest. This application for planning permission has not yet been determined so watch this space,” the spokesman added.

While the secretary of state considers whether or not to ‘call in’ the application, the planning permission will not be granted. If the application is ‘called in’ then an inspector would determine the application rather than the local planning authority. To view the planning application, along with supporting comments and representations, visit the South Hams District Council planning website, using the application number ‘0771/16/OPA’.