MID Devon District Council (MDDC) is proposing to discuss an application for 257 homes in Sandford Parish, on the outskirts of Crediton, at a special meeting of its planning committee on Wednesday, September 19.

Mid Devon planners recently postponed a previously scheduled meeting at which the plan was to be discussed at short notice owing to new national planning regulations affecting five-year land supply.

The application, by Gleeson Homes, for a site at Creedy Bridge (formerly Pedlarspool) in the Creedy Valley, was to have been the only agenda item at the August 15 meeting of the MDDC planning committee but now it is scheduled for 2.15pm at Phoenix House, Tiverton on September 19.

The application is a revised application for 257 dwellings and up to five gypsy and traveller pitches; 8.6 hectares of land made available to facilitate the relocation of Crediton Rugby Club; up to 1.1 hectares of land safeguarded for the delivery of a primary school; access arrangements from A3072 (Exhibition Way); pedestrian and cycle areas on to Pounds Hill/Stonewall Lane; landscaping and area of public open space; and other associated infrastructure and engineering operations.

Full details about the plan: 17/00348/MOUT (for 257 dwellings on Land at Creedy Bridge, Crediton, Devon) can be found on the website: www.middevon.gov.uk .

Cllr Judi Binks (Sandford and Creedy) has made an official complaint to the Chief Executive and Head of Planning about their lack of consultation and communication about the application because she thinks local planners should engage with local people.

She added that Mid Devon failed to inform Sandford Parish Council of the new date immediately, leaving it to her to pass on the message.

Mrs Binks says local residents can make their views known in the Public Question Time at the meeting on September 19 and advises that those who wish to speak email her at: [email protected] for more details of this procedure.

A full agenda for the meeting, with supporting documents, is expected to be published on the website for the planning committee in the near future at: www.middevon.gov.uk .

A group opposed to aspects of the plan, Creedy Valley Protection Group, has been active in its opposition to the plan.

The group says the valley is “currently unspoilt” and said that the “sweetener” offered by the development plans in providing a new home to Crediton Rugby Club did not make the developers’ “bitter pill” any less destructive or toxic.

It said previously that the plan was “unacceptable for wildlife and environment”.

There have also been concerns about flooding, light pollution, air quality, endangered species, the lack of safe footpath provision, unacceptable changes to the road network and congestion and lack of local infrastructure.

The loss of good farmland has also been raised as well as visual impact and loss of some ancient trees.

• What do you think of the plan for 257 homes on the edge of Crediton at Creedy Bridge?

Share your views with fellow “Courier” readers.

Write a letter, suitable for publication, to: The Editorial Manager, “Crediton Courier”, 102 High Street, Crediton EX17 3LF or email: [email protected] .