First day of Feniton 'Super Inquiry'

Residents of Feniton have flocked to the Flybe training academy for the first day of a planning ‘super inquiry’ which could see the village almost double in size.

The Feniton ‘super inquiry’ was called as three developers are simultaneously appealing their previously rejected planning applications.

The Planning Inspectorate made the decision to combine the hearings due to similarities of the appeals.

The developers Wainhomes, Strategic Land Partnership and Feniton Park Ltd are appealing decisions on a total of 235 new houses which would see the village size grow by nearly 40%.

The ‘super inquiry’ will be held in an eight day hearing at the Flybe training academy at Exeter airport after the previous venue was deemed too small.

Also attending were members of ‘Fight for Feniton’s Future’, a pressure group formed by Feniton residents to challenge the development.

Members of the group and the East Devon Alliance  will take part in a march in Feniton next Saturday (11 January) to protest against the impact of the National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) on the country’s rural villages.

Feniton was recently hit by floods in the recent storms with sewage discharging from drains.

Independent Councillor Susie Bond saw the flooding first hand, she wrote: “Water was gushing off the Wainhomes site through the children’s play area, through the allotments and risking houses further down the road.

Cllr Bond will also be taking part in the march against NPPF next friday along with local MP Neil Parish.

The march has already gained some national attention with historian and journalist Sir Max Hastings has writing in support of Fention.

He wrote: “Feniton’s campaign represents the struggle of us all for the rights of local communities to decide their own future and for the English countryside.”