Plans submitted for 450 homes and a link road

PLANS for up to 450 houses, employment land, a new school, a small shopping centre, sports facilities and a new link road have been proposed for Newton Abbot.

Applicant CEG is working with a project team to design a residential-led mixed-use scheme on land at Langford Bridge, to the south of Newton Abbot at Wolborough.

The land is included for development in the Draft NA3 Wolborough Development Framework Plan and the Local Plan, with 1,500 new homes set to be built in the wider Wolborough area. Prior to a formal planning application for the Langford Bridge site being submitted though, CEG has asked for a scoping opinion for the site that would let it know whether the proposal would need an Environmental Impact Assessment before a planning application was made.

The scoping opinion would also allow developers to assess whether the application would have any significant effects on the cultural heritage, the likely impact it would have on the highway network, the air quality of the area, and the visual impact on the landscape.

The area covered by the scoping opinion runs from Decoy Industrial Estate to the north, Aller Brook to the east, The Priory to the west and Priory Road to the south.

Homes Heath, the home ground for Buckland Athletic FC, is not included with the area and excluded from any potential development.

The proposed developments is likely to include broad elements of 450 new homes; employment land, consisting of research and development, light industry and office floor space; a potential 85-bed care home; a potential health centre; a potential local shopping centre with community facilities; potential provision of education facilities and sports facilities; provision of public open space; provision of a roundabout south of the Decoy Industrial Estate to allow a new link road from the A380 to the A381.

The Local Plan 2013-2033 allocates land at Wolborough, Newton Abbot for at least 1,500 homes, 10 hectares of land for employment, a road linking the A380 to the A381, education facilities, and other associated community facilities on 120 hectares of land that stretch eastwards from the A381 Totnes Road to Kingskerswell Road, next to the South Devon Highway and immediately south of Decoy Country Park.

The road linking the A380 to the A381 could be built in 2019.

Jonathan Cooper with Naomi Cunningham