Plan to change the face of Teignbridge unveiled

A CRUCIAL new plan which could radically change the face of Teignbridge for generations to come is set to be unveiled to residents.

Major proposals to build thousands of new homes, create hundreds of jobs and build new roads and community facilities are outlined in the district's draft planning blueprint for the next 20 years.

Teignbridge District Council is set to unveil its Core Strategy document and wants residents to look at the plan and give their 'full and frank' opinions on it.

The authority said: "We need to preserve what's great about Teignbridge but make it better for the future."

The document sets out the future planning growth for houses, jobs, roads, leisure facilities, green spaces and shops. It is the central and most important document in the Local Development Framework plan and includes proposals and actions to meet environmental, social and economic issues facing the area. It will replace the Teignbridge Local Plan which was adopted in 1996 but is now increasingly out of date.

The new document sets out separate visions for the main towns and villages with the overarching aim to provide:

12,000 new homes — spread across the district — with up to 5,000 classed as 'affordable'.

The creation of link roads between the A380 and A381, the A382 Bovey Tracey road to the A383 Ashburton Road and phase two of the link road between Jetty Marsh Road to Whitehills Cross, Kingsteignton with funding drawn from developers' planning-related costs.

16,000-square metres of non-food retail space, of which 16,000sq m will be in Newton Abbot and 3,000sq m will be in Teignmouth and/or Dawlish.

910 additional new jobs per year in 'all sectors' of the economy with 70 per cent in retail, leisure and tourism.

Improved cycle and walking networks and the protection of existing transport networks such as rail and bus routes.

The strategy also addresses the need for town centre development, gypsy and traveller pitches, protecting the environment and wildlife and tourism.

Teignbridge Council's executive member for housing and planning Cllr Philip Vogel said the strategy was driven by 'unprecedented levels' of consultation with residents, community and voluntary groups, parish councils, businesses and other statutory organisations. Places such as Kingskerswell, Dawlish and Chudleigh formed their own neighbourhood plans which will feed into the Core Strategy.

Cllr Vogel said: "We're dedicated to helping Teignbridge develop a strong, vibrant, sustainable economy, together with good quality homes and leisure, tourism and environmental policies.

"There is a well-evidenced need for more homes and jobs over the next 20 years and by planning to meet these needs we can make sure that we get the right development in the right places.

"We have to be clear that this plan is necessary if Teignbridge is to avoid the continued 'planning by appeal' culture we have experienced over the last few years.

"We appreciate that any development plans can provoke passionate reactions on both sides and we're looking forward to having a full, frank and broad conversation with local people over the next few months."

Deputy chief executive Phil Shears said: "We have a real desire to see Teignbridge flourish and prosper, recognising the challenges presented by the significant growth of Exeter and the regeneration in Torbay, and meeting these with the right levels of local growth in the right places. We won't be coy. The evidence shows we need new homes, and these will help fund important regeneration schemes which bring more jobs and better facilities to our communities.

"Without homes and jobs we'll see more young people leave the area, taking away vital new talent and leaving a place where most homes are expensive and only within reach of older people with more money.

"We need a bright future where a new generation of local people can live, work, shop and enjoy the beautiful countryside, and to do that we need a good local plan which covers all the bases."

In 2007 Teignbridge Council had to go back to the drawing board after its first Core Strategy was declared 'unsound' by a Government inspector.

The current draft will go before the overview and scrutiny and executive on November 1. A consultation draft of the plan will be approved and a seven-week public consultation period will start from Thursday, November 17.