Nearly £90,000 earmarked for projects such as play areas and allotments is owed to Ottery Town Council (OTC) – with another £115,000 on the way.

Sidmouth Herald: The land behind Butts Road after a succesful appeal to put 130 homes on the site in 2013.The land behind Butts Road after a succesful appeal to put 130 homes on the site in 2013. (Image: Archant)

The authority was unaware of the money, despite the fact it had spent two years hounding East Devon District Council (EDDC) about the amount of available section 106 funds - cash paid by developers to mitigate the impact of new homes.

Councillor Geoff Pratt asked how much section 106 money EDDC held which was owed to OTC at a meeting on Wednesday, July 24.

It was revealed that £22,581 was available for play projects and £66,192.63 for generic open space projects - allotments, children's play or youth play etc.

A further £115,202 is about to be made available from the 130-home Butts Road development.

Cllr Pratt said: "The Ottery town clerk has been trying to get that information for the last two years without any success and it is only since I asked this question, a flurry of information has been provided and this total of £203,000 that we have has come to light.

"The lack of communication on behalf of the council is totally unacceptable and in future town and parishes should get proper replies when questions are asked.

"It seems that we have £200,000 to spend but the town clerk who was trying to get this has been ignored for years."