OBJECTORS breathed a sigh of relief when a second attempt to develop Tiverton’s Tidcombe Hall was rejected, and so thoughts now turn to what the applicant might do.

The plan for up to 100 homes – the vast majority of which were proposed to be built on agricultural land adjoining the historic hall – was unanimously refused by Mid Devon planners.

This decision came around three years after a larger scheme for up to 179 homes was also thrown out.

So what will Tidcombe Hall LVA – the applicant behind both schemes – do now?

Finding out who is behind this company isn’t simple.

Using Companies House filings, Tidcombe Hall LVA has three shareholders – all of which are companies.

These are Jersey-based Northdown Limited, Poole-based Southern Country Parks Limited, and Yeovil-based Manual Investing Limited.

To confuse things further, Northdown’s only shareholder is Tidcombe Hall LVA.

Clarity doesn’t emerge with Southern Country Park’s shareholders either; all seven of these are companies, including three that have Tidcombe in the name.

And it gets even more complex with Manual Investing. This firm has 76 current shareholders, all of which are companies, and all of which are based at one of two addresses – one in Sherborne, Dorset, and the other in Yeovil in Somerset.

Taking one of the companies at random that part-owns Manual Investing, all the shareholders are companies.

Two individuals are named as previous directors of this firm, Cranbrook LVA; James Phillip Huckerby and Robert George Tizzard used to be directors, but they resigned in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

The make-up of the company behind the scheme was criticised by one objector to the proposals, resident Goff Welchman, when he spoke at the planning meeting where the plan was considered.

He said in spite of the applicant’s name, the business behind it was “not local” and that the move was simply a “speculative land grab with no regard for the local environment or nearby residents”.

At that same meeting, the agent for the applicant, Grassroots Planning, a Bristol-based firm, said the aim of the scheme was to “boost housing supply”, which it considered key for Mid Devon to hit its housing targets.

Plus, it said its scheme would also help secure the long-term viability of Tidcombe Hall, a historic building in Tiverton that was previously listed.

Grassroots Planning did not respond to a request for comment about whether it would appeal the decision, or about who the individuals were behind the scheme.

Bradley Gerrard