Outline application for a continuing care retirement community comprising a 60 bed care home, 54 extra care apartments, visitor accommodation, up to 16 age-restricted dwellings and a range of community facilities
Land to the North of A3052 between the Cat and Fiddle and Devon County Showground, Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary

East Devon District Council has recently refused permission twice in February 2015 and July 2015 (Applications No. 14/2237/ MOUT and 15/0693/MOUT) for the development of 93 dwellings on this land by reason of the number of units and its unsustainable location in the countryside being remote from local services, infrastructure and employment opportunities.

This new application for a proposed retirement community seeks to counteract the refusal decision on the unsustainable grounds with the provision of GP and health care services, an on-site shop, restaurant, cafe, library, hair/beauty salon and community facilities, providing substantial employment opportunities within a continuing care retirement community in a formal campus design set in landscaped surroundings.

Ostensibly the concept of such a development in East Devon appears sound considering the projected number of elderly residents living in the area by providing care home facilities, extra care apartments and independent accommodation including affordable housing on one site. Under the Care Act 2014 local authorities must be mindful of the provision of living accommodation for older populations, giving them adequate choices and ranges of facilities for their wellbeing. This type of development ultimately frees up future housing stock for families, addressing the housing crisis and providing more suitable and safe living accommodation for the elderly. In recent years, large numbers of residential care homes have closed locally caused by financial problems and the inability to address government guidelines for future improved care for the elderly in suitable accommodation, leaving the remaining care homes mostly oversubscribed.

However, EDDC planners must now consider the size, location and quality of this proposed continuing care retirement community provision in this rural locality, assessing any local need and ultimately deciding whether this site is the correct one for such development by weighing up all the advantages and disadvantages to ultimately achieve a balanced decision.

Significantly this site is outside the BUAB for development in the current East Devon Adopted Local Plan and is not identified in either the EDDC Emerging New Local Plan to 2031 or the Emerging Neighbourhood Plan for Clyst St Mary, being located in the countryside. Developers continue to try to prove that existing or emerging local authority Local Plans are unsound to gain substantial developments in rural areas but there must be a need identified for such development to benefit the community without unbalanced detrimental aspects weighing heavily on the local vicinity.

It is considered that the scale of a 60 bed care facility, plus 54 extra care apartments and 16 age restricted dwellings, plus visitor accommodation and community facilities designed principally at a 2 storey height is an overdevelopment of the site and would prove overpowering on the rural setting, particularly on the low level homes of the adjoining Cat and Fiddle Retirement Park.

Traffic movements on such a development will be significant, adding to an already busy arterial route, with Hill Barton and Greendale Industrial Estates continuing to increase in size, significantly affecting traffic congestion on the A3052. At peak times when approaching the Clyst St Mary roundabout, daily traffic queues back up for miles, causing motorists to rat-run through the quiet residential areas of Winslade Park and the old Village Road to avoid the congestion. The road safety issues of this are obvious and residents’ lives are being seriously compromised, especially those families with young children, the elderly and disabled.

Moreover, the speed of the rat-running traffic is often dangerous and these additional large scale proposals will definitely exacerbate the traffic problems in the whole area. Devon County Council cannot continue to state that these roads are coping and a robust traffic improvement around this area is necessary and overdue.

The proposed right turn lane will only benefit vehicular access into the proposed development. It will be very difficult for vehicles to turn right when leaving the site towards Clyst St Mary without the benefit of some traffic control.

An improved cycle path and pedestrian walkway from the site towards Westpoint (plus the local bus stop) are indeed sustainable and will be accessed by some. However, it is considered, given the outlying location, that the main transport choices will prove to be cars, vans and lorries to support deliveries, medical facilities, employment, residents and visitors. It is unlikely that large numbers of elderly people will use the more sustainable cycle and pedestrian routes provided, even with the encouragement and distribution of leaflets from a Travel Plan Co-ordinator! The percentage of people using public transport in Clyst St Mary is far lower than the national average because most economic, social and environmental areas are not easily accessible by foot, cycle or public transport.

Clyst St Mary has a history of flooding and planning policy must ensure that there is no increased risk to existing properties from these proposals. Even with the provision of attenuation ponds to aid drainage run-off from this development, flooding issues remain a great concern to existing residents. Drainage flows are already defective leaving surface water unable to dissipate satisfactorily in peak conditions with inevitable flooding and the village being regularly at risk and listed on flood alerts by the Environment Agency. The loss of the existing permeable green open space, which at present aids drainage run-off, could exacerbate the flooding problems in the village. It is also feared that the existing village foul water systems are inadequate and cannot cope with any substantial additional load without the provision of major drainage improvement systems to alleviate risks of flooding. It is also hoped that the Environmental Land Quality Investigation undertaken has been thorough, with any future recommendations regarding proposed building, air quality and drainage being stringently followed, as there are still continuing concerns from locals over the land contamination by the burial of a cow with anthrax in the 1960s.

The environmental impact on a site in the countryside is obvious and all recommendations for the protection of quality trees, wildlife, both flora and fauna, must be observed. There are also areas of potential archaeological interest within this site and the correct procedures must be followed for their protection and investigation.

Historically, this site was granted planning approval for a hotel from 1989 to 2001 but this approval has now lapsed. In more recent years development companies have favoured large scale development including hotels in the expanding business locality of the West End around Skypark, the Science Park and Cranbrook as being more sustainable but leaving the developmental opportunities for this site in the countryside limited and restrictive and it would appear that the disadvantages of this rural site for such large scale development clearly outweigh the advantages.