Barnes Meadow homes go-ahead

CONTROVERSIAL plans to complete the Barnes Meadow estate at Uplyme have been given the go-ahead.

East Devon District Council planners have approved amended designs for phase three of the development despite concerns about possible further landslides in the area.

Massive earth piling on the site was blamed for a landslide in 2002 which wrecked three Gore Lane homes - whose owners have still not been able to return.

The parish council also objected to the design of the 14 homes planned for the final part of the hillside development.

It said it was "totally appalled" at the plan to build large houses up to three storeys high on land known to be unstable.

"It is the intention to site the houses behind and in the vicinity of the bungalows damaged in 2002. The owners are still unable to return to their homes two years after the rotational slip caused by the movement and weight of soil moved across the site."

But members of the district council's planning inspections committee agreed on Friday that Wykeham Homes can complete the estate, subject to a range of conditions, including a satisfactory drainage scheme.

Officers pointed out that damage caused to neighbours' property by the apparent storage of materials close to their boundaries was "not a relevant consideration".

A spokesman for the council told the News that the levels on the site had been closely looked at and the council's consultants were satisfied that the application as submitted was accurate.

But water levels on the site would be monitored for the next two years, he stressed, and added: "We will ensure through building control and enforcement that the work is done as it was originally intended."