Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Code of Good Practice for Councillors and Officers dealing with planning matters as set out in the constitution, Councillors Paul Hayward, Ben Ingham and Geoff Jung advised lobbying in respect of site allocation Hawk_01 – Norton Store, Hawkchurch

The Chair welcomed everyone to the reconvened Strategic Planning Committee meeting and asked the Assistant Director – Planning Strategy and Development Management to provide an update about the current situation on the housing numbers.  It was confirmed that at the end of the previous meeting Members had agreed to allocate 1,567 dwellings, leaving a shortfall of 711 dwellings needed to meet the housing requirement figure set by Government.  This figure included a 10% headroom.

GH/ED/38 (incorporating Feni_09 & 11) Land at Sherwood Cross, Feniton

Proposed use: Housing

Number of dwellings: 225 (taken as a whole)

Recommendation: Not to allocate

Ward Member Councillor Alasdair Bruce who did not support the site allocation as he considered the number of homes suggested for Feniton was unsustainable.  He raised a concern about the reasoning for not including in the housing numbers any of the current active planning applications as to not include these distorts the true picture of how much this village has sacrificed for East Devon.

Feniton Parish Council supported the officer recommendation ‘not to allocate’ due to the sheer scale of numbers proposed for a tier 4 settlement which would be unsustainable.  Over 500 residents had signed a petition for no more development in Feniton which the Parish Council supports.

Following the comments made by the Ward Member and Parish Council clarification was sought on the total number of dwellings that had already been allocated in Feniton.  Members were advised that 42 dwellings had been allocated with a further 83 dwellings proposed for allocation as detailed in the agenda.

The Chair proposed to move on.

Committee agreed to move on to the next site allocation.

Feni_01 Land at Feniton, forming part of Sherwood Farm

Proposed use: Housing

Number of dwellings: 46

Recommendation: Not to allocate

Feniton Parish Council supported the officer recommendation ‘not to allocate’ as the access would be on a narrow lane which floods regularly with no footpath or street lighting.

Councillor Geoff Jung proposed to move on, seconded by Councillor Jess Bailey.

Committee agreed to move on to the next site allocation.

Feni_07 Lyndale, Feniton

Proposed use: Housing

Number of dwellings: 60

Recommendation: Not to allocate

Feniton Parish Council supported the officer recommendation ‘not to allocate’ as the site was the location for the much needed flood alleviation works.

Councillor Jess Bailey proposed to move on, seconded by Councillor Todd Olive.

Committee agreed to move on to the next site allocation.

Feni_08 Land adjoining to the west and south-east of Beechwood, Feniton

Proposed use: Housing

Number of dwellings: 83

Recommendation: Allocate

Feniton Parish Council did not support the site allocation referring to the site being subject to a Planning Inquiry in 2014 in which the Inspector dismissed the appeal on grounds that Feniton was not a sustainable location for large scale housing.  Feniton Parish Council now considered these conditions in Feniton were worse in 2024.

Members discussed the number of dwellings proposed and whether this was a reasonable number for a tier 4 settlement.

Councillor Geoff Jung proposed to endorse  ...  view the full minutes text for item 225.