CAMPAIGNERS from Sidmouth threw their support behind protesters fighting against excessive development in Fention at a mass march attended by 400 people. People from Sidford, Newton Poppleford, Ottery St Mary, Budleigh Salterton, Honiton and Payhembury also took part in the rally on Saturday.

Save Our Sidmouth (SOS) members were on hand to signal their solidarity with the village – and say current loopholes in planning law have ramifications for East Devon’s villages.

Calls or these to be amended before more countryside is ‘needlessly destroyed’ have won the support of MP Neil Parish and more than 100 colleagues.

He delivered a speech to a cheering crowd.

SOS has joined forces with other pressure groups to oppose the impact of the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) on the country’s rural villages.

The march was organised by the Fight for Feniton’s Future group and the East Devon Alliance.

Feniton is facing a ‘super inquiry’ over developers’ plans for a further 235 houses in the village, which, together with the 50 dwellings approved on appeal last year, would increase the size of the village by more than 40 per cent.

Campaigners blame the NPPF and its presumption in favour of development - with no upper limit placed on what constitutes reasonable growth for a community,

East Devon District Council’s draft Local Plan states that growth of just 5 per cent is right for Feniton.