Planning inquiry could end building site dispute

A planning inquiry could bring an end to a long-running dispute over a large building site on the edge of Newton Abbot.

A government inspector will hear from both sides in a dispute over how water drains away from Vistry Homes' site at Wolborough.

Local environment campaigners said they fear waste water would ruin the Wolborough Fen, which is an official Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and home to rare plant species.

Vistry Homes said the water drained safely elsewhere and the fen was outside the catchment area.

In February, a planning inspector heard from both sides of the argument, which has resulted in protesters marching across the fields and council officers halting work on the site.

However, at the time, the planning inspector Tom Bristow decided the two sides were too far apart to settle it without a full-scale inquiry.

He said: "I have rarely encountered as wide a gulf between the main parties as I have here."

During the February meeting, Bristow expressed concern that Teignbridge Council had chosen to go into the hearing with no formal legal representation.

It has now been announced that the inquiry will run from August 4 to 7 and then again on August 11 and 12.

The six-day planning inquiry will be held at Teignbridge Council's Forde House headquarters.

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