A GROUP of residents are set to speak at the North Tawton Town Council’s next meeting early next month to voice concerns over what has proved to be a controversial planning application for six new houses in the town.

The application, which proposes to build on land to the west of High Street, has caused consternation among the community as there are fears that an increase in housing would put more pressure on the town’s amentities.

This is the latest chapter in the hotly-contested site which started when developer WainHomes first submitted an application to extend the Batheway Fields housing estate in 2017, with many residents arguing that there were not the jobs or facilities available to sustain the number of proposed houses in the application.

In 2021, the developer came under fire for failing to provide the promised new facilities, including a medical centre, allotment spaces and play area which were part of the planning application for the Batheway Fields estate.

This new application which, if approved by West Devon Borough Council, would see six new homes along with associated services, such as drainage and a roadway, has worried residents who fear that the lack of infrastructure would overload the town’s current facilities unless extra school places and more facilities such as NHS dentist and doctors’ surgeries can be found.

These concerns come as residents are already worried about the construction work going on at the new Allison Homes at the Weavers Place site in the town which has already caused disruption to neighbouring properties due to dirt and dust left on the road, littering, and noise.

At the annual town meeting in March, residents raised concerns with an Allison Homes representative which included problem parking, speeding, and mud on the road.

Residents have argued that some construction workers were parking inconsiderately and causing dangerous blind spots for drivers trying to pull out and others said they had witnessed incidents of speeding and were growing concerned that children or dogs could be hit.

An Allison Homes representative later responded to this concerns in a separate statement. Andy Cattermole, head of planning at Allison Homes South West, said: ‘We have reminded our contractors about their responsibility to not block the main road and for vehicles to pull clear of the highway. Furthermore, we have asked our site team to ensure they are managing this further. Should this continue we would ask that details of the date, time, vehicle registration number and any sign writing be provided to us and we will then take action directly as required.

‘If we need to provide more regular road sweeps we will do so. There have been a number of vehicle movements through the winter that have caused more mud on the road but now the weather is beginning to settle we hope that the amount of mud will be significantly reduced. We have reminded our contractors to ensure that if there are any dogs brought to site that any mess is dealt with accordingly.’