WHPC’s comments on Morrish Homes letter to residents
The East Devon Local Plan, Villages Plan, and the Ottery St Mary and West Hill Neighbourhood Plan are consistent in regard to the Built Up Area Boundary (BUAB), the southern edge of which runs between Ford Lane and Hawkins Lane. The Morrish Homes site is some way outside the BUAB, and is therefore considered to be in an unsustainable location for development, and in planning terms is in the “open countryside”. If Morrish Homes were to submit a planning application now, it would not be compliant with several policies in the above Plans.
However, the Local Plan is now more than 5 years old, and although it technically runs until 2031, it is normal to undertake a review at this stage. East Devon District Council (EDDC) has started this process, and hopes to produce a draft Plan by the end of 2021, and to get the Local Plan adopted by 2023. This will decide how much housing (and employment land), and where, is needed in East Devon up until 2040.
As part of the process, they have put out a “call-for-sites”, which is an invitation for landowners & developers to submit sites on which they would like to build houses. We know that there are at least 12 sites around West Hill being submitted, of which the Morrish Homes site is one. These will go through an assessment process, and once we know how many new houses West Hill will be expected to accommodate, there will be a public consultation, so that residents, and the parish council, can express their views. The same process will happen in all the towns and larger villages throughout East Devon, and will inform the draft Local Plan.
The favoured site(s) (if any in West Hill) will be “allocated” in the Local Plan, which means that they will find it very much easier in the planning application stage, as the site will have been approved in principle.
Morrish Homes have rather jumped the gun in this process. They approached the parish council a few months ago, seeking a private meeting with the council at which they could promote their site. We declined to do this, and encouraged them to make their plans public. Their letter, and their proposed consultation event in September, is the result. We would therefore encourage residents to make your views known to Morrish Homes as it is very important they hear the comments of residents directly, even at this early stage.
Residents may choose to work together to establish an action group.
The parish council cannot be involved in an action group – if we did, arguing against (or for) any particular site, we would be “pre-determined” and thus barred from taking part in submitting comments to the EDDC consultation at the appropriate stage. The most effective way for Cllrs to use our voice is to submit a consultation response to EDDC, once the possible sites are known, based on the views of our residents and our knowledge of the village.
The parish council does have a working group for Planning Policy, which includes engaging with the Local Plan Review process. Cllr Margaret Hall is the lead councillor for this.
Next Steps
When the EDDC consultation is open, and sites around West Hill are being considered, WHPC will notify residents to gather your views.
