Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the previous meetings held on 1 November, 5 November, 22 November and 29 November 2024 were confirmed as true records.

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

Minute 249. East Devon Local Plan - approval for Regulation 19 consultation.

Councillor Eleanor Rylance, Affects Non-registerable Interest, Broadclyst Parish Councillor and a resident of Broadclyst.

Minute 249. East Devon Local Plan - approval for Regulation 19 consultation.

Councillor Mike Howe, Affects Non-registerable Interest, Village shop owner.

Minute 249. East Devon Local Plan – approval for Regulation 19 Consultation

In accordance with the Code of Good Practice for Councillors and Officers dealing with planning matters as set out in the constitution Councillors Kevin Blakey, Bethany Collins, Paula Fernley, Geoff Jung and Eleanor Rylance advised lobbying in respect of Strategic Policy SD07: Development at Broadclyst.

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the Press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

There were no confidential or exempt items.

Chapters 1 to 5 will be considered during the morning session.

Up to 10 registered public speakers will be invited to address the Committee on chapters 1 to 5.

Chapters 6 onwards will be considered during the afternoon session which will not start before 2pm.

Up to 10 registered public speakers will be invited to address the Committee on chapters 6 onwards.

Links to Local Plan Maps

Axminster

Beer

Branscombe

Broadclyst

Broadhembury

Budleigh Salterton

Chardstock

Clyst St Mary

Colyton

Dunkeswell

East Budleigh

Exmouth

Exton

Feniton

Hawkchurch

Honiton

Kilmington

Lympstone

Musbury

Newton Poppleford

Otterton

Ottery St Mary

Payhembury

Plymtree

Seaton

Sidbury

Sidmouth

Tipton St John

Uplyme

West Clyst

West Hill

Whimple

Woodbury

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the public that had registered to speak on chapters 1 to 5 to address the Committee.

Councillor Martin Smith on behalf of Feniton Parish Council referred to the inconsistences between the Local Plan’s vision and Strategy Policy SP01: Spatial Strategy paragraph (e) referring to the removal of any reference to ‘meeting local needs’ which the parish council believed was to overcome the need for more housing in the tier 4 settlements advising that Feniton had the highest number of housing allocations of any tier 4 settlement and 4.6 hectares of employment use which was unsustainable development.

John Hamill spoke about chapter 4 referring to a specific site allocation in the Ting Tong area which Committee had proposed for site allocation.  He explained the reason there had not been any resident representation at the meeting on 3 September was because the site had been recommended ‘not for allocation’ and highlighted that now that the site had been allocated it now had the potential for development of over 1,000 houses.  Mr Hamill asked the Committee to think carefully about the site allocation as the infrastructure would not be able to cope.

Barbara Whetter spoke about chapter 5 and questioned why there had been so much development proposed in Feniton especially as it was a small rural village, dependent on car usage on unfit and congested roads. 

Lesley Oates spoke about chapter 5 and advised that although she acknowledged the need for more affordable housing and more employment opportunities, she felt dismayed about the disproportionately large level of development suggested in certain rural areas as these villages did not have the infrastructure to support this.  She referred to Richard Foord MP’s speech in the House of Commons on 9 December where he advised that 57% of East Devon was National Landscape which had an unfair burden on the council to achieve housing targets on the remaining 43%.  Lesley Oates suggested that the council should be fighting back at government rather than shoehorning developments into ridiculous spaces.

Dr Lorna Mason, speaking on behalf of Jill Murdoch and Bill Martin raised concerns that the amount of development proposed for the area would destroy the village’s unique character which local people did not want.  Dr Mason questioned the lack of transparency from the closed-door Member Working Group meetings and questioned who would profit from the sale of land in East Devon and whether Committee Members were being influenced by developers with financial incentives.

Dr Mason mentioned for public record that 370 people had commented in the previous consultation that they were unhappy or dissatisfied with development in Broadclyst.  She urged Members to pay attention to what Broadclyst residents were saying and pointed out that the Committee had voted to include the most objected to site and now have increased the allocation above what officers and the parish council considered would be detrimental.

The Chair responded to the accusations and advised Dr Mason that all Members were accountable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 249.