Hotel and motorhome campsite approved for village

A hotel with 30 beds and a camping site for motorhomes is set to be built close to a retirement village in Holsworthy.

A planning application to build on land adjacent to Rydon Village off the A3072 has been approved by Torridge District Council's planning committee.

About 35 jobs are expected to be created once the hotel is built and 40 others during the construction, the application said.

However Sylvia Argyrou, a nearby resident, said the retirement village would be overlooked by the site which would "strip us of our privacy and peace".

Some people at the village, which has 83 residents, are also concerned about air, noise and light pollution.

Councillor Kit Hepple, an independent for Milton and Tamarside, said it was "the wrong development in the wrong place".

He said there were safety issues regarding the shared access and the farm track to the new development and a proposed footpath alongside the A3072 to link with the town centre.

Council leader Ken James said there was very little accommodation in the area with the nearest hotel of this type in Bideford, the local democracy reporting service said.

He told the committee the scheme aligned with Torridge's plans to bring the district out of deprivation.

Chair of the Great South West Investment Board and member of the South West Business Council Tim Jones said: "I think this application shows that Holsworthy is open for business and committed to economic development.

"I have known this area for 30 years, I cannot remember a time when the prospects for Holsworthy have been as good as they are now."

However Philip Pennington, who is a non-aligned councillor for Monkleigh and Putford, said hospitality was traditionally low paid and this sort of employment would not help Torridge lower the number of working residents on Universal Credit.

The committee agreed the plans by five votes to three.

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