Following on from the post where Devon County Council foresees a town “as big as Barnstaple” at Cranbrook. we have received the following comment which is upscaled to a post here:

Here are some historical EDDC statements about the size of Cranbrook:

Cabinet 2 May 2012 – “The Local Plan anticipates the completion of 6,000 homes at Cranbrook in the period to 2026 representing a likely population in excess of 13,000 people.”

Cabinet 3 April 2013 – “More broadly this pace of delivery is fundamental to supporting the achievement of the Local Plan, with circa. 60% of the remaining strategic housing requirement due to be accommodated at Cranbrook with expansion up to circa 6,500 homes over the plan period.”

Cabinet 4 Sept 2013 – “It is anticipated that by 2026, 6,000 new homes and associated town centre and other facilities will have been built. Assuming an occupancy rate of 2.2 persons per dwelling this is likely to mean that Cranbrook’s population will reach approximately 13,000 people – similar to Honiton by 2026. These 6,000 new homes are anticipated to come forward as a consequence of the following: Outline planning application 03/P1900 granted in October 2010 for the first 2,900; A Full Planning application for 600 homes (submitted on 2 August 2013) and (at the time of writing, being checked for validation) the ‘East and West Expansion Areas’ – allocated for approximately 2,500 homes in the emerging Submission East Devon Local Plan 2006-2026.”

Cabinet 4 June 2014 – “The vision for Cranbrook clearly anticipates that it will be much more than a housing estate with it being seen instead as a “new East Devon ‘market town’” with a “fully functional town centre” that is “ideally placed to perform a role in serving tourism in East Devon”.”

Cabinet 5 Nov 2014 – “The new Local Plan identifies both east and west expansion areas for Cranbrook to bring the overall level of development to about 6,000 houses. The new local plan does also show an indicative location for about 1500 houses to the south of the old A30 Honiton Road after 2016. New Community Partners (NCP) have advised that they will be submitting an outline planning application for the east, west and southern expansion of Cranbrook comprising possibly 4,000 houses before the end of 2014. The NCP held a “Cranbrook to 2031’ public exhibition on 15 and 16 October and before the end of this calendar year we expect to receive an application or applications for the largest residential scheme East Devon DC has seen in many years.”

EDDC Web site today – What is Cranbrook all about? – “Currently, a total of 3,561 homes, two primary schools, a secondary school, town centre, local centre and associated infrastructure and green spaces have planning permission but there are plans for a further 4,000 homes and associated infrastructure set out in the New Local Plan meaning that the town is planned to grow to a total of around 6,000 homes by the year 2026 and to 7,500 homes beyond that. This equates to a town of approximately 15,500 people (slightly larger than Sidmouth or Honiton).”

So, EDDC’s official position is originally 6,000 houses / 13,000 people , and now targeted at 7,500 homes (which would be c. 16,250 people). So I am not sure where 30,000 people has come from – or why a second station is needed when the population is actually projected to be only half the size of Barnstaple.