Plan for 300 homes at Honiton is deferred

An East Devon District Council committee today (Friday) unanimously voted to defer a decision on a proposal for up to 300 new homes off Hayne Lane, Honiton, in the parish of Gittisham.

The decision came after late submissions from official bodies asked to comment on the possible impact of the new homes.

EDDC’s Development Management Committee (DMC) had referred the application to the Site Inspections Committee on 3 April and later that month the latter committee resolved to approve the proposal.

Since then, concerns have been raised by the EDDC ward member, Councillor Susie Bond, and by Gittisham Parish Council about the degree of consideration given to the possible impact on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. EDDC’s Chief Executive ruled that the resolution should not be acted upon and that the Site Inspections Committee should meet again on 11 July to address the particular concerns.

In the days running up to the new meeting, comments were received from a number of bodies that had been asked to assess the impact of the application on their particular area of expertise – known as Statutory Consultees. These include Natural England and the NHS.

These comments were all received much later than the official deadline, but planning officers advised the committee that whilst this was “regrettable”, the council was legally obliged to take their comments into account.

On 10 July, EDDC also received a letter from the Department of Communities and Local Government, which oversees local authority procedures, directing the council to refer any decision on the proposal to the Department.

EDDC’s Development Manager, Ed Freeman, read a statement* to the committee on 11 July, informing members of all the latest developments affecting the proposal.

In the light of this, committee chairman Councillor Helen Parr, proposed from the chair that a decision on the application should be deferred to give officers time to prepare a full updated report for members.

She invited Councillor Bond, Councillor David Fallows, Chairman of Gittisham Parish Council, and the agent for the applicants, Mr John Baird, to speak.

Councillors Bond and Fallows supported the deferral, but asked that the decision be deferred back to DMC, which the chairman was advised is not procedurally possible under the council’s constitution. The applicant’s agent opposed the deferral and argued that the new comments did not constitute objections and were not sufficient reason to put off making a decision.

The six members of the Inspections Sub Committee voted unamously to defer a decision on the application to a later date, to allow officers to prepare a new report.

Mrs Parr said the late submissions from some statutory consultees were “unhelpful and regrettable”.

Councillor Alan Dent, acting vice chairman of the committee, said the decision to defer “demonstrates democracy at work”. Councillor Geoff Pook said the purpose of the committee was to “deliver good planning decisions for the benefit of East Devon”.