Residents of West Hill have expressed concerns over the planning application to build five new homes on land at Lower Broad Oak Road.

Planning application 23/2612/OUT was submitted in December, seeking to build five new homes.

Applicant David Pring wants to build five one-and-a-half storey detached houses. The site used to be used for farming and sits in an already residential area. 

Residents have made their views clear, and as of today, (January 16), 86 public objections have been added to the East Devon District Council (EDDC) portal, which will now remain open for comment until February 2.

Concerns focus, among other things, on the location - the site being on the south-west extremity of the village is outside the formal Built-Up-Area-Boundary as defined in the existing and forthcoming EDDC Local Plans, which has been considered and rejected for development twice before.

Other residents say there is a sustainability issue as the site is approximately one mile from the primary facilities of shop, village hall, school and one mile from the bus stops at the shop and West Hill Garage, meaning an increase in traffic in a local road system that already has inadequate capacity. Lower Broad Oak Road is single track, winding, and hilly with no pavement or street lighting.

And an environmental issue, residents say that a new development would 'destroy' the view which is chosen for protection in West Hill’s Neighbourhood Plan that looks towards East Hill Strips, an historic and iconic hillside that dominates East Devon, as well as felling two mature Oak trees and creating a reduction in ecological value and loss of habitats within the site.

There is a consistent message from residents that the “harms” significantly and demonstrably outweigh the “benefits."

The application will be reviewed by East Devon District Council officers before being approved or refused.