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My objection to the proposal for a housing estate in the Seaton-Colyford Green Wedge
I have submitted the following objection. Please submit your own, in your own words, selecting the issues that are most important to you – no need to go into as much detail as I have. We now have around 100 objections but we need more!
Application number 22/2781/MOUT: Land Adjacent To Harepath Road, Seaton EX12 2WH
On 21 February 2023 I chaired, as a former County Councillor for Seaton and Colyton, a meeting of over 150 Seaton and Colyford residents who were almost unanimously opposed to this application (only one person was not opposed). Many reasons were given for opposing the building of a housing estate on this site, but some fundamental issues stand out. In this objection I why the proposal contravenes the Local Plan and the Council should reject the proposal.
- None of the land proposed for housing is allocated for this purpose in the plan, and much of it is outside the Seaton Built Up Area Boundary. Since this is classed as Countryside, the proposal is contrary to Strategy 7 of the Plan, and since it is part of the Seaton and Colyford Green Wedge, the proposal is contrary to Strategy 8. The scheme will bring Seaton’s urban area right up to the A3052, virtually closing the Green Wedge between Seaton and Colyford on the Harepath Road side, and creating a precedent for filling in the Green Wedge altogether.
- The proposed housing estate will bring suburban development close to the northern end of Seaton Wetlands, opposite its main entrance at the Cemetery, harming wildlife (including but not only bats) as well as their attractiveness for residents and visitors alike. This is contrary to the Local Plan’s commitment to Seaton’s environment: “Seaton’s outstanding natural environment especially its wetlands is its most precious and defining asset, and policies for the conservation, enhancement and sensitive management of the landscape, heritage and wildlife of the area will be prominent.”
- The development therefore also contradicts the Local Plan’s view of Seaton’s economic future: “Longer term growth of tourism, especially green tourism, is a fundamental objective to be promoted and we will seek to enhance the social and community facilities of the town. The Axe wetlands, Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site (Jurassic Coast) and surrounding exceptional coastline will be key environmental assets that will be integral to the future success of the town.” This impact is therefore is contrary to Strategy 25 (Development at Seaton) which states, “we will promote Seaton’s role as an important ‘green’ tourism destination on the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site (Jurassic Coast)”, and to Strategy 33, on tourism.
- Contrary to the applicants’ claim that “the proposed site is readily accessible by non-car modes of travel including walking, cycling, bus and train”, there is no train service in Seaton, bus services have deteriorated, and the site is not sustainable for pedestrians. The walking distance to the centre of Seaton is approximately 1.5 km or 25 minutes average walking time, compared to the accepted 800 metre norm; moreover the most direct route via Colyford Road is unsafe as I explain below. The site is also more than 800 metres from the GP practices, local schools and Seaton Hospital. A suggestions which has been made for a new crossing to assist the new residents to access the Stop Line Way Multi-Purpose Trail would not solve this problem since this route would lengthen the journey to most facilities still further, and so is not an answer to everyday travel issues. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy TC2 which states, “New development should be located so as to be accessible by pedestrians, cyclists and public transport and also well related to compatible land uses so as to minimise the need to travel by car.” Seaton needs development on brownfield sites near the centre, from which residents will use town-centre businesses and facilities, not edge-of-town developments that will send residents off in their cars to shop in other areas.
- The development will increase car movements on the narrow and winding Colyford Road. This is without pavements on some sections and is therefore unsafe for pedestrians. I asked Highways to investigate this issue when I was County Councillor and it was concluded that because of the width of the road, itself constrained by the buildings on either side, it was not possible to provide the necessary pavements. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy TC7 which states that permission will not be granted if “the traffic generated by the development would be detrimental to the safe and satisfactory operation of the local highway network”. The applicants’ transport assessment recorded vehicle movements on a school day outside the main holiday period, although Seaton is a seaside tourist town with greatly increased traffic numbers during holiday periods. For example, Seaton Tramway had 93.5k visitors in 2022. The transport assessment was also undertaken at a time when the tourist attraction Seaton Jurassic was closed. This is due to re-open, bringing substantial numbers of additional visitors.
- The eastern side of the development is likely to cause additional run-off to the south of the site, acknowledged as an area of flood risk where existing properties (in streets including Buttercup Close, Primrose Way and Celandine Close) have suffered from flooding in recent years. While the development itself may be in Flood Zone 1, the proposal is contrary to Policy EN21 which states that a flood risk assessment must demonstrate “that the development will be safe, without increasing flood risk elsewhere and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall.” As the Environment Agency confirms in its objection, the applicants have not submitted a satisfactory flood risk assessment.
- The proposal to add up to 130 dwellings in Seaton comes after the town has already delivered or is in the process of delivering more new dwellings than required by the local plan, with additional dwellings expected in other smaller developments. In these circumstances the proposed number of houses on this site is contrary to the local plan’s commitment that ‘there will be limited housing development in the short term beyond that already proposed in the regeneration area’ and that the authority will ‘restrict any further significant housing developments beyond the existing Built-up Area Boundary by locating the majority of the required 150 houses within the existing town.’
- Strategy 25 recognised that in Seaton “community facilities, school, health, social and cultural, were seen as borderline or inadequate with no capacity to serve additional residents.” The pressures have only become more acute since the plan was adopted in 2016: GP appointments are difficult to obtain and the school had only two spare places at the beginning of 2023. The development underway at Seaton Quay and the final tranche of houses at Pebble Beach will already add to these pressures. Since the application envisages that CIL money will be devoted to the football facilities, it is unlikely to generate significant resources for basic infrastructure, contrary to Strategy 50, which states: “It is essential that in areas where substantial new development is proposed, and in areas lacking facilities, that provision be made for community and education facilities.’
- The Council’s Landscape Architect noted in response to a previous application submitted for this site stated that there was an underestimation of its visual presence especially within long distant views: “any development within the green wedge would extend Seaton’s suburban edge towards Colyford substantially and offer views from the wider area of an extended roofscape. It would reduce the travel time between Colyford and Seaton and change the gateway into and out of Seaton, giving it a suburban feel due to the visibility of the built form even with mitigation measures.” The photograph on page 14 of the applicants’ Design and Access Statement shows precisely how beautiful these views are; a housing estate in the middle of them will destroy them forever. The development is therefore contrary to Strategy 46 which proposes protection for landscapes of value, and since it will build right up to the boundary of the Coastal Preservation Area, it is contrary to Strategy 44 which states that development ‘will not be allowed if it would damage the undeveloped/open status of the designated area or where visually connected to any adjoining areas.’
- This application proposes a new football pitch outside the Built Up Area Boundary, but as the Landscape Architect pointed out in relation to a previous application, EDDC’s Playing Pitch Strategy “identifies a need for minimum two adult football pitches and one youth (9v9) football pitch over-marking the second adult pitch for Seaton’s football provision.” Indeed, the Strategy also identifies a shortfall for cricket provision. It would be more appropriate for the adjacent land which is allocated for recreational and employment use in the plan to be used to meet the need for new pitches.
- The application promises ’25 per cent affordable housing’ but since the development is outside the BUAB, 66 per cent should be offered. Moreover ‘affordable’ houses for sale are often out of reach of local people, and the main need is for social housing for rent near the centre of the town, for families priced out of by second-homeowners and holiday rentals. As the meeting on 21st February was reminded, at the Tesco site in Seaton, a promise of 40 per cent ‘affordable housing’ was reduced to 25 per cent and then to 0 per cent. The Council should not trade Seaton’s environment for such unreliable promises.
The applicants argue that while the proposal is outside existing planning policies, these are “out of date” because the Council can only demonstrate 4.68 years’ “housing supply” when the requirement is for 5 years’. Yet this is a minor projected shortfall and major harm to the local environment should not be perpetrated on this basis. As the Planning Appeal Inspector put it in 2015, when rejecting an appeal against a previous refusal for this site, “although EDDC’s housing shortfall was significant it was arguable relatively short term whereas the erosion of separation between Colyford and Seaton would be permanent and should not be acceded to lightly.”
In fact the applicants’ reliance on housing supply policies, which have led, as Cllr Arnott has put it, to “inflated housing need numbers” in East Devon, itself appears to be out of date. The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced on 6 December 2022 that he was considering abolishing the obligation for local authorities to maintain a rolling five-year housing land supply where local plans are considered up-to-date.
The applicants also argue that the existing Local Plan policies should be set aside because part of the site is provisionally allocated for housing in the emerging Local Plan 2020-2040 on which the Council has recently consulted. However the land allocations in this draft of the Plan have been included only to satisfy the outdated five-year housing land supply requirement. In this case, moreover, the Planning Committee cannot rely on the provisional allocation because it does not have the support of the local community, as the recent meeting convincingly demonstrated.
Since the government has recently indicated that housing need target policy will be modified, the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee has rightly resolved that no further discussions on potential sites take place until the Government makes its decision. In this situation, it would obviously be completely inappropriate for the Council to approve the present application.
Very similar applications have been rejected by EDDC after large-scale opposition from local residents, and the Council’s decisions have been upheld on appeal. People in the Seaton and Colyford area trust that EDDC will protect the Wetlands and the Green Wedge against this new proposal.
Over 150 residents protest against Green Wedge housing estate
On Tuesday night I chaired a meeting in the Gateway of over 150 Seaton and Colyford residents who were virtually unanimous in their opposition to the proposal for up to 130 houses to be built on a site in the Green Wedge between the two communities, and very near to Seaton Wetlands.
The odd man out was Conservative councillor Marcus Hartnell, who had persuaded four members of Seaton Town Council’s planning committee (three others were absent) to approve the development in principle.
The meeting asked me to write to the Town Clerk protesting against this move, which is contrary to the Town Council’s longstanding policy of opposition to building on this site. The meeting also asked me to write to Cllr Eileen Wragg, chair of EDDC’s Planning Committee.
The meeting urged everyone to send individual objections to EDDC as soon as possible: the reference number is 22/2781/MOUT and you can LINK TO IT HERE.
Seaton meeting on Tuesday 21st to discuss Harepath Road planning application
Concerned Seaton residents will be meeting at The Gateway (Seaton Town Hall) at 6.30 on Tuesday to discuss Baker Estates’ planning application for land between Harepath Road and Colyford Road. All are welcome!
You can find the application on the EDDC planning site, reference 22/2781/MOUT.
Residents’ chance to influence local plan as policy context shifts
The government has finally given way on their dictatorial housing targets which force local councils to allow developments in inappropriate locations. It’s too soon to know what this will mean for EDDC’s new local plan, currently under consultation, but it should give residents a new opportunity to make their views effective.
There is a consultation exhibition in Seaton Town Hall (Gateway) on 15th December. A group of local residents concerned about the plans to allow development in the Green Wedge near to the Wetlands have produced this leaflet to alert local people to the issues. Please go along and have a look at what is being proposed and then express your views to EDDC.
EDDC’s new Local Plan out for consultation
The latest stage of the new Local Plan can be found HERE.
Consultation runs from 7 November 2022 to 15 January 2023. This is your chance to have a say.
Public exhibitions: Where and when?
- Thursday 1 December, Axminster, Guildhall, 3pm – 7pm
- Thursday 15 December, Seaton, Gateway, 3pm – 7pm
Potential sites for development in Seaton are outlined as follows:
- Land at Barnards Hill Lane for around 40 dwellings. In order to ensure no adverse effect on the integrity of the Beer Quarry and Caves SAC, suitable avoidance/ mitigation/compensation measures will need to be identified.
- Land to the south of Harepath Hill for around 70 dwellings. In order to ensure no adverse effect on the integrity of the Beer Quarry and Caves SAC, suitable avoidance/ mitigation/compensation measures will need to be identified.
- Land off Harepath Road for around 100 dwellings and 2.2 hectares of employment land. The employment land is located in the field immediately north of the existing Harepath Road Industrial Estate. In order to ensure no adverse effect on the integrity of the Beer Quarry and Caves SAC, suitable avoidance/mitigation/compensation measures will need to be identified.
- Land at Clay Common is allocated for around seven dwellings.
Seaton Hospital to be one of Devon’s new GP-led Covid vaccination centres
With this good news, and Citizens Advice moving to the Waffle House in the hospital, it feels as though we have finally secured its future in the near term.
But we still need to be vigilant – ‘selling public buildings’ is apparently one of Rishi Sunak’s austerity options.
Re:storing Christmas Cheer in the Axe Valley Community
RE:STORE, the Seaton-based community group who brought Christmas to local families in need two years ago, have a new appeal for CHRISTMAS 2022. This is much needed since many people are already finding it difficult to survive.
I’VE JUST GIVEN TO THEIR APPEAL – IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO DO SO, PLEASE MAKE A DONATION HERE NOW.
Here is what RE:STORE say about what they’re planning to do:
Using those who receive free school meals as a criteria, we are aiming to bring some Christmas Cheer to local families who need a little support in these challenging times, providing a hamper with food, treats, a children’s book & high street vouchers to spend in local businesses.
Previously run in 2020, the Christmas Cheer scheme helped 108 families and 185 children in the Axe Valley catchment area with the support of the local community, councillors, businesses and schools.
With the current cost-of-living crisis the project is more essential than ever and will benefit an increasing number of children and families who need support and help.
Working with 10+ schools in the Axe Valley area we estimate the numbers of children who will benefit will exceed 200 this year.
The overwhelming success of the 2020 scheme is reflected in the positive feedback received from schools and recipients:
“Thanks so much. What a lovely gesture. I’m struggling financially at the moment so this means a lot”
“Our families were overwhelmed by the generosity and were very emotional with it all. Thank you so so much to you and all of your wonderful volunteers.”
“How wonderful, the present will go under the tree as we have not been able to do much this year for my child and are so grateful for this”.
The more support and funds we can raise the more families and children we can provide a little Christmas Cheer for.
A breath of fresh air – Richard Foord MP talks in Axminster
More than 50 local residents and activists came to Axminster Guildhall this morning to hear Richard. The thing he’d learnt by getting close to Tory ministers, he said, was that ‘these people are amateurs’, and a ‘new bunch of amateurs’ seemed to turn up every few weeks as the Tories changed leader yet again. The real tragedy, he said, is for all of us as citizens. A lively Q & A covered a range of issues. For me, Richard is a breath of fresh air after the stale Tory representation this area has had for so long.
Open meeting with Richard Foord MP, in Axminster Guildhall this Saturday, 22nd, 10.30
Richard Foord: My First Hundred Days as an MP
At the start of this summer, Richard Foord was happily working in the academic sector, having retired from the army, enjoying family life in Devon.
A hundred days on, he has won an historic by-election which helped trigger the downfall of Boris Johnson and become the LibDem spokesperson for Defence as the war in Ukraine rages. He has seen the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the proclamation of King Charles III. He has witnessed the government acquire a new leader, followed by an immediate economic crash triggered by the “fiscal event”. Arguably few new MPs have ever entered Parliament at such an historic time.
Richard will be talking about his first hundred days, in conversation with East Devon District Council Leader and historian, Paul Arnott. The event is to be held at Axminster’s Guildhall starting at 10.30am (doors opening 10.15am) on Saturday 22nd October 2022.
The event is non-political and open to the public. No charge, though contributions to cover hall hire welcome.
Now we turn to the economic and social crisis
My column in today‘s local papers:
As we emerge from the commemoration of the late Queen Elizabeth, our attention returns to the dire economic and social crisis which months of a zombie government has only made worse.
The Queen survived just long enough to see the back of Boris Johnson, who insulted her by presiding over law-breaking parties while she mourned her husband. But she then had to swear in Liz Truss, whose shrill, publicity-seeking persona is such a contrast to hers, despite their common first name. Truss even wanted to cash in on the new King’s tour of the UK nations, until it was pointed out that making it political would bring the monarchy into disrepute.
Certainly, Truss has capped energy costs. But at a massive £2500 a year for an average household – £529 more than we’re currently paying and more than twice what we paid 12 months ago – more people will join those already in hardship. A windfall tax (on the extraordinary excess profits that energy companies are currently making from our excess bills) would have enabled her to freeze them at the current level, as the opposition proposed. Instead she’s gone for another big increase on 1st October. Truss once worked for Shell and she has advisers who worked for BP; it seems she cares more about their balance sheets than the finances of ordinary households.
On top of forcing us to continue paying excessive sums each month to the energy firms, Truss is giving tax cuts to the rich and big corporations, and lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses which are already at ultra-high levels. Borrowing in order to hand extra money to corporations – who are not even asking for a cut – and wealthy individuals – who will save much of it instead of putting it into their local economy – is madness now the UK is in recession and small businesses are already closing down.
Any borrowing should be to support the health service, social care, schools and other public services. You can’t rely on the ambulance service (it’s worse in the South West than anywhere else), people are being forced to pay privately for operations, and tens of thousands of people are even dying because the NHS is so run down. With this backdrop, how dare Truss give handouts to those who don’t need them?
The energy crisis also shows that the chickens are coming home to roost from the Conservatives failure to secure a low-carbon energy future. They blocked offshore wind farms, like the proposal for Lyme Bay (I’ve seen the one off the Sussex coast, and it’s hardly the blot on the landscape that they claimed). They’re still blocking onshore wind turbines, the quickest, cheapest and least environmentally harmful way to improve our power supply. They scrapped schemes to support home insulation and solar power on roofs, so that you often can’t find a firm to install them even if you want to.
After a decade heading in a far right direction, the Tories have managed to find a leader who is even more extreme, who has promoted a notorious climate denier, Somerset MP Jacob Rees Mogg, to manage energy policy. Truss is backing fracking, which even her new Chancellor agrees won’t deliver significant energy for the UK, and hyping nuclear power, which may have a role to play but will take many years to make a difference. It’s almost as though she is trying to annoy people who care about the environment. Thought things couldn’t get worse after Johnson? Think again.
***
A local footnote to the story of inadequate government support for public services. This has now forced Conservative-run Devon County Council into a severe financial crisis, so it is increasing parking charges to help with its deficit. Yet recently local Tories berated East Devon District Council’s modest parking rises, forced by similar financial pressures. Will they now apologise for their ill-judged campaign?
Seaton & Colyton MATTERS 