THIRTEEN garages are to be torn down to make way for three new council houses in Crediton. 

The new one-bedroom factory-built bungalows on Churchill Drive will each have an off-street parking space and store for two bicycles. 

The “ultra-low to net-zero carbon” ZedPods homes will also have triple-glazed windows and doors and roof-mounted solar panels, among other energy-saving features. 

Two will be for one person each and the other for two people. 

Mid Devon District Council will manage the tenancies and maintenance of the homes. 

Off-street parking places will be lost when the garages are demolished, and there were concerns over more traffic on surrounding roads and where people using the garages would park. 

Crediton Town Council also pointed out that the proposals would go against a neighbourhood plan policy that prohibits new development if off-street parking is lost – unless there is no need for the parking, or equivalent space can be provided somewhere else. 

But the Devon County Highway Authority said it did not have any problem with the project, and a Mid Devon District Council survey found just one of the garages is currently used for regular car parking. 

The increase in parking demand would therefore be “limited to a single vehicle” and “not considered a significant impact”, planning documents said. 

As for potentially having more traffic, the rise in “vehicle trips associated with the proposed development would be at a very low level, likely well within daily fluctuations on the local network”, according to the documents. 

You can see the approved application online here: https://planning.middevon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=SB1T8CKS07T00. 

To see more public notices and planning applications, visit: https://publicnoticeportal.uk/.