More than 300 people have objected to plans for 63 new homes in Ottery St Mary – and the town council is calling for the proposal to be turned down. 

The applicant, ALD Developments Ltd, is seeking outline permission from East Devon District Council to build the homes on a greenfield site east of Sidmouth Road. Read more here.

So far 308 members of the public have registered objections on the district council’s website, with others sending in signed copies of a leaflet opposing the plan. 

The objectors, including the town council, argue that the proposal goes against both local and national planning policies. The site is not among those considered suitable for housing developments, as set out in the East Devon Local Plan and the Ottery and West Hill Neighbourhood Plan, and is outside Ottery’s Built Up Area Boundary, meaning it is in the countryside. There are concerns about the loss of agricultural land as well as important trees and hedges, with the associated wildlife habitats. The objection leaflet states that the development ‘would have a harmful urbanising effect on the character and appearance of the area’. 

The objectors also have serious concerns about road safety. The town council has highlighted the risk to pedestrians walking to Ottery town centre or the primary school from the site if the houses are built, along a road with inadequate footways. The development would also generate more traffic heading into town from Sidmouth Road, which will take motorists through the already very congested town centre. 

Town councillors have also raised the issue of flood risk, saying it is ‘completely unacceptable that the applicant has not completed an adequate and up to date flood risk assessment for this application, instead relying on a piece of work carried out in May 2015 - more than 7 years ago’. 

The town council has already pointed out to EDDC that Ottery is being earmarked for a disproportionately large number of new homes, compared to the other towns in the district even though Ottery’s schools are at capacity and the Coleridge Medical Centre is already struggling with its existing patient numbers. Read more here.

The public consultation period on the proposal ends on October 21 and the application will be determined by EDDC at a later date.