SOUTH Hams Development and Management Committee have voted to refuse H2Land’s proposed development in Derby Road, Kingsbridge.

The meeting, held at Follaton House, Totnes, on Wednesday morning, the committee voted nine to two against the proposal. The only future for the K4 development now, is through the appeal procedure.

Kingsbridge Town Council last week withdrew its support for the application after the affordable housing contribution dropped to just 12 per cent.

Mayor of Kingsbridge Chris Povey said: ‘This is fantastic news for the town. The decision has been the right decision by members, and I’d like to thank Cllr Robin Griffin who attended the meeting in person, which is the first time we have attended one of these meetings, because we felt it was important to represent the electorate.

‘This is definitely the right way ahead, these decisions need to be called in, because to go from 55 per cent to 12 per cent on affordable housing is not acceptable. It sets a dangerous precedent and every site going forward is going to be a difficult site so therefore we had to fight this, the town council stood up and fought it and luckily the district council have seen the correct sense in the matter as well.’

Kingsbridge Councillor Robin Griffin said: ‘The briefing paper I had from the Clerk Matin Johnson was excellent, in particular I could cite the SHDC police and point out how grotesque H2Land’s offer of four affordable homes was.‘Cllrs Keith Wingate and Rufus Gilbert spearheaded the attack and this is a signal to developers that Kingsbridge folk are not here to be exploited or underestimated. I stole a useful quote from a Kingsbridge resident who said: “Has the hill got steeper in the last few months?”‘Our planning committee threatened to sack me if I messed it up so I’m very relieved!’Councillor Wayne Grills said: ‘I’m glad that DMC listened to the town council’s concerns. A clear message must be given to developers and landowners: if you want to build you can, but you must make a contribution to the community. We will await to see what happens next.’

South Hams Councillor Keith Wingate said: ‘I am pleased to see that the committee has refused this application, I was not happy with the low level of affordable housing and the impact on the nearby listed building, Buttville House.

‘I think the development was not a good deal for Kingsbridge and the site warrants a better proposal.’

South Hams Councillor Rufus Gilbert said: ‘I am delighted K4 has been refused and am pleased to have played my part in representing the communities opinion. The affordable housing element of 12 per cent was in my opinion derisory and the proximity to Buttville House, a listed building, was untenable.’