Dawlish Discussion

Very recently a planning application to build four houses in the garden of 23 Badlake Hill was rejected because it would be overdevelopment of the site and would create loss of privacy to house nos 1-6 Church View, Weech Road. See https://dawlish.com/thread/details/47734

Another planning application has now been submitted, again for four houses, which claims to address and resolve the issues quoted above. See below for details.

Documents related to this Application are available here.

You can comment on this application using this form.

It still does nothing to address the highways problem which has been well-known and acknowledged by our council for about 50 years. There are people who are afraid to let their children walk to school on their own down Badlake Hill because of the situation with heavy goods lorries passing within inches on a road with no pavements in places and narrow access at the bottom of the hill. Sometimes you are squeezed into the wall by the Swan. The other evening I walked down and was nearly clipped by the wing mirror of a van. There have been a few minor injuries, accidents narrowly averted, and I am sure that before long there will be something more serious that will take place. There is a need for a proper overall plan as the existing roads are not fit for more traffic and therefore not fit for any more development.

Thing is, thing is, that Devon County Council Highways department don't see that the extra traffic generated by another 4 houses in the vicinity would cause any extra problems. Highway and traffic issues were not a reason why planning permission was refused for the previous application.

If DCC Highways department don't think there will be any problem then what locals think is, and let's be honest about this, irrelevant.  

Oh, so the fact that cars and lorries regularly drive on the pavement past peoples' front doors to pass each other on the hill is not a concern to them then. One day we will get someone to monitor the air quality on the hill, especially when we have been subjected to lorries reversing up to access the building site.

For what it is worth it seems that the town councillors who sit on Dawlish Town Council's planning committee agree with you. When the first application was submitted earlier this year, to build four houses on this site, DTC's planning committee recommended refusal. Amongst the reasons they put forward were these: 

"Road safety concerns due to additional pressure on the existing constrained road layout. There would be poor visibility and safety concerns for pedestrians due to limited pavement if traffic were to increase. There is already an issue with pollution due to building works in the area so further development would compound it". 

This planning application is on the agenda for this coming Thursday's (6th Jan 2022) Dawlish Town Council Planning Committee meeting.

and this is what DTC's planning committee had to say:

This planning app is on the agenda at TDC Planning Committee meeting due to be held Tuesday 17th May.

Officer recommendation is for approval.

Ward councillors are Cllr John Petherick and Cllr Gary Taylor.

Cllr John Petherick called for deferment of decision to allow a site visit to take place.

This was Agreed (10 in favour, 1 against). 

On the agenda at the next TDC planning committee meeting being held 14th June.

Two becomes five in Dawlish

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/two-becomes-five-in-dawlish/

Well,  no-one saw that coming - did they?

Just been listening to the podcast.

Cllr John Petherick spoke against the planning application on highway safety grounds. He proposed a refusal but this was not seconded.

The vote to grant planning consent was as follows:

For - 8

Against - 3

Absentions - 2

I would also point out that at the last planning committee meeting Cllr John Petherick requested a site visit by planning committee members.

He was the only one who turned up. 

Cllr. Petherick has been the only one who has ever showed any interest in the issues raised by these planning applications. The other members of the planning committee have been useless.