Devon continues to tear itself apart with another swing of Labour’s wrecking ball. – Owl

Devon should be split into three unitary authorities in a huge shake-up of local government, according to the district councils in the county.

By Miles Davis Devon political reporter www.bbc.co.uk

All of the district councils and the county council will be abolished in the biggest national reorganisation of local government for 50 years.

The existing district councils say they want to see a new unitary authority across north and east Devon and Exeter, a second unitary authority covering the south and west of the county and Plymouth staying as it is.

The plans are at odds with proposals put forward by Plymouth and Exeter, which both want to expand, and by Devon County Council with Torbay yet to announce its plans.

District councils in Devon want to see two new unitary authorities created in Devon and Plymouth to continue as it is

The district councils are backing what is known as the 4-5-1 proposal.

It involves one unitary authority for West Devon, Teignbridge, South Hams and Torbay.

A second unitary authority for North Devon, Torridge, Mid Devon, East Devon and Exeter.

Plymouth remaining as a standalone unitary authority.

In a joint statement on behalf of all district council leaders, they said: “Our proposal aims to create a more effective and financially sustainable local government for Devon by aligning council boundaries with real communities and local economies.”

Setting out its reorganisation plans, the government has said it would like to see new unitary authorities with a population of about 500,000, external but the figure is “a guiding principle, not a target”.

Plymouth City Council has said it wants to expand into parts of the South Hams to increase its population while Exeter City Council wants to expand in all directions.

Devon County Council announced its plans in September to keep the county looking broadly as it does now and keeping Torbay and Plymouth unitary authorities in place.

All of the councils will need to submit their plans for reorganisation by 28 November with final decisions to be made by the government.

From cpre:

We’ve been following the government’s latest planning announcements closely. This week, they announced a raft of hasty, last-minute amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

But it’s not just the amendments themselves that are a concern. It’s the rhetoric around them. Ministers are speaking of ‘tearing up red tape’ and ‘removing obstacles’ as if nature and local democracy are the problem. We know that’s not true, and this is an approach which risks valuing the voices of investors and big developers over ordinary people and nature.

Some of these last-minute changes raise questions, including new powers for ministers to overrule local decisions, and proposals to reduce Natural England’s oversight. But the bigger issue is how little respect is being shown for scrutiny, transparency and meaningful engagement.

The government is blaming nature and communities for the housing crisis, when we know it’s bad policy and a broken market which has been dominated by big housebuilders, hoarding land and trickling out homes that most people can’t afford. Meanwhile, we continue to fall desperately short of delivering affordable and social rent homes, and brownfield for 1.4 million homes sits dormant.

We know we can tackle the housing crisis without harming nature, and that’s why we’re calling for a joined-up and grown-up conversation about the future of the planning system. A planning system that values both nature and people, and builds trust rather than division.

CPRE will keep pressing for a planning system that’s democratic, evidence-based, and genuinely sustainable – because that’s the only way to deliver the homes and energy we need without losing the countryside we all depend on.

Independent Chair of West Devon Council write to the times

Letters to the Editor www.thetimes.com 

Sir,

Further to your report “Reeves hopes radical planning reforms will offer budget relief” (Oct 14), if the government really believes that “bulldozing through the barriers that have strangled growth” will reinvigorate the housing market, it would do well to pay us a visit here in west Devon. We have given permission for more houses than the government has demanded from us. But plots lie unbuilt, houses that have been built lie empty and affordable housing evaporates as builders claim the rising cost of development renders them unviable. If the government really wants its target of 1.5 million new homes to be met it would be better for it to understand why those housing plans already given permission are not being built rather than continuing to trot out nonsense about local authorities being the problem.

Ric Cheadle
Chair, West Devon borough council planning committee; Yelverton, Devon (Independent)

Cranbrook – local authority a delaying problem or essential to holding developers to account?

Is this recent example of planning in Cranbrook an example of our local authority being an interfering and delaying “problem” or an essential mechanism to hold developers to local account?

The government believes local planning authorities are holding back development and economic growth to such an extent they are getting rid of them in their proposed devolution reorganisation. – Owl

Go ahead for Devon homes after years of ‘difficult negotiations’

Bradley Gerrard www.devonlive.com

Years of discussions over land transfers and low affordable housing numbers delayed a decision

A total of 92 homes have been given the go-ahead in an East Devon town after years of “difficult negotiations”.

Planners were faced with two schemes being taken together in Cranbrook, with one from Persimmon Homes bringing forward 61 homes, and the other 31 from East Devon Community Partners.

The plots of land are both on Tillhouse Road and so essentially create a single area of housing in the county’s newest town.

Discussions about developing the sites for housing go back at least as far as 2020, and have eventually led to a bespoke agreement – known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – being struck.

This agreement has secured the likes of land transfers to local authorities for nominal £1 amounts, as well as financial contributions towards community facilities, but accepted that only seven affordable homes would be included as part of these schemes.

Councillor Brian Bailey (Conservative, Exmouth Town), questioned the low level of affordable housing, claiming it is “not sufficient”.

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But Councillor Olly Davey (Green Party, Exmouth Town), who chairs East Devon District Council’s planning committee, said the MoU overrode certain rules that usually apply to housing applications in Cranbrook.

Thea Billeter, the Cranbrook new community manager at East Devon District Council, acknowledged the level of affordable housing on these sites was “not what we ideally wanted”.

“But after much debate, it was considered acceptable as part of the wider package,” she said.

“I can’t stress heavily enough how difficult negotiations were within the consortium,” she added.

“We acknowledge this creates a conflict with planning policy, but taking into account the other benefits, we consider it acceptable.”

Ms Billeter added that there had been examples in Cranbrook where homes were built, and then consequently transferred to a housing association. This meant, she added, that just because a planning application didn’t have a high number of affordable homes in it, further such properties could become available later on.

Josh Stevenson, speaking on behalf of Persimmon Homes South West, said “numerous changes” had been made to the plans”

“These homes will be contributing to East Devon’s housing shortfall, with properties ranging from 1-bed maisonettes to three-bed detached homes,” he said.

“We’ve had very helpful dialogue with East Devon District Council, Devon County Council, the Environment Agency, Natural England and others, and we have refined our proposals, and we thank all officers for their hard work.”

The issue of parking was also raised, however, officers noted the two applications had 142 parking spaces between them, with 112 of those being private and 30 unallocated.

Furthermore, 25 garages would be provided under flats that are part of the applications.

Persimmon’s Mr Stevenson said the amount and type or parking had been agreed with East Devon.

Cllr Ian Barlow (Independent, Sidmouth Town) asked whether the amount of parking was sufficient, given the issue is frequently raised in Cranbrook.

But officers said a 2021 census showed that just over half of Cranbrook households had no car or just one vehicle, just over two-fifths owning two, and only just over 7 per cent owning three or more.

As such, planners acknowledged parking issues in Cranbrook could be related to the fact that too many spaces were allocated to specific homes given the levels of car ownership in the town.

The planning committee unanimously approved the applications.