Housing plans 'fail to address local needs'

Plans for a new housing development in Devon have been described by a councillor as being in a dangerous location and failing to address the area's needs.

Torbay Council said a planning application was submitted for 110 homes on the former Sladnor Park holiday camp site, at Maidencombe, in Torquay.

Developers Pegasus Group said the site was currently derelict and it would be an opportunity to create "one of the best places to live in Torbay".

But, councillor George Darling, Liberal Democrat for St Marychurch, said the location of the development was too isolated.

"What is striking about this development is its isolation and complete absence of nearby amenity," Darling said.

"These are supposedly family homes, yet for a parent and child to walk to their nearest primary school in Watcombe, they either must brave a 20-minute wander down the accident hotspot A379 or take a two-hour round-trip along the coast path."

He said bus services were few and far between, and there was no shop nearby to serve people living in the new homes.

A proposal to create a retirement community on the site was refused in 2021, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said, because of its landscape impact, inadequate drainage and lack of affordable housing.

Pegasus Group said: "Sladnor Park will be a highly desirable place to live for the 21st Century and beyond.

The aim is to achieve a development with a strong identity and distinct sense of place."

However, Darling said there was no social housing planned on the site, which the area was "desperate" for.

"This development is dangerous, fails to address Torbay's needs, and does not provide for the needs of residents who would eventually live there," he added.

Among those attending a recent public meeting on the proposals was former Torbay Conservative MP Kevin Foster, who said it had been a useful chance to hear the strong arguments prepared by local residents.

He added: "It doesn't deal adequately with a number of issues and would set quite a precedent."

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