D-Day for Knowle as planning decision looms
- Credit: Archant
Its decision day for Knowle as the district council rules on a controversial planning application to build 50 houses and a care home.
The redevelopment has been recommended for approval ahead of a special planning meeting at 2pm this afternoon, in spite of 1,800 objections.
Hundreds of members of the public are expected to voice their anger at East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) plans, and an extra room with a live audio feed has been made available at Knowle.
After EDDC announced its intention to relocate its headquarters to Honiton and sell-off Knowle, grass-roots campaigns in Sidmouth were formed to oppose the move.
Last November 4,000 people marched from the seafront to EDDC’s offices to protest against the application, which groups like Save Our Sidmouth (SOS) claim would desecrate public parkland.
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But planning officers said despite the loss of some parkland, in contravention of its own emerging Local Plan, the 50 house and care home development is ‘acceptable’.
A report to be delivered at today’s Development Management Committee said a recent survey demonstrated Sidmouth has an ‘over supply of parks and recreation land’, and none of the key features which make the space historically important would be lost.
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For live updates of the Knowle decision today see www.sidmouthherald.co.uk, and on the Herald’s twitter feed @SidmouthHerald.
