PLANNING permission in principle for up to five homes in a field southwest of Yeoford has been rejected.

Russell Stevens of Neopardy had only applied to Mid Devon District Council to establish the priniciple of development. If permission had been granted, another application would have been needed to decide the appearance of the houses and other particulars.

Refusing the application, Mid Devon District Council said the site “comprises a physically and visually separate parcel of countryside, detached from the village by a substantial belt of mature trees, and does not represent a logical or natural extension of the settlement”.

It went on to say that development of the site “would extend built form into an undeveloped countryside location and erode the clear distinction between the settlement and the surrounding rural landscape”.

“As such, the proposal would result in open market housing in the countryside, contrary to the spatial strategy set out in Policies S1, S2, S13 and S14 and would fail to conserve the character, appearance and landscape setting of the area, contrary to Policies DM1, DM3, S9 and S14 of the Mid Devon Local Plan 2013-2033,” added the council.

“The site is not considered to be physically well related to Yeoford for the purposes of Policy S5 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2026.

“The absence of suitable pedestrian infrastructure between the site and the village and the nature of the surrounding highway network would limit opportunities for walking, wheeling and cycling and result in a reliance on private motor vehicle travel, contrary to Policies S5, TR3, TR4 and CC2 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2026.

“While the proposal would make a modest contribution towards housing delivery, this benefit is not sufficient to outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the countryside, and the unsustainable location of the development.”

Planning documents had argued that while the proposed homes would be “outside of the building line of the village”, they would only be 60 metres from the nearest dwelling, and also be not far from the school, pub or railway station.

“The land to the rear of the proposed dwellings and the southwest will continue to be used for agriculture as they are currently, the field is mainly for the grazing of the applicant’s flock of sheep,” they say.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

You can see the application on Mid Devon District Council’s website under reference 26/01307/PIP.