Potential new town for Teignbridge being considered

A planned new town like Cranbrook or Sherford is being considered for Teignbridge – but no location for where it might be has been found.

Councillor Gordon Hook, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group, raised a question about the potential new settlement as part of a Local Plan Review at Teignbridge District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Monday.

The committee were being asked to consider the draft consultation documents around the review of the Local Plan and make any comments before they would go to the executive for approval before going out for consultation.

Councillor Hook said: “I want to ask a question about what is mentioned on page six of the executive summary about the consideration of a new settlement. I would argue that the people of Newton Abbot already think that the developments at Wolborough and Houghton Barton are new towns, but on the consideration of a new settlement, where might it be located?”

In response, Simon Thornley, Business Manager for Strategic Place, said that Wolborough and Houghton Barton were definitely not considered as new settlements. He added: “No location for a new settlement has yet been found. In terms of the geography of Teignbridge, it is difficult to find a site for a new settlement, but if someone does have a better idea of where it could be then respond and let us know.”

The Houghton Barton development plan is for 160 hectares of land on the western boundaries of Newton Abbot and would deliver 18 hectares of employment land, a new primary school, a new community centre, and a new road connecting the A382 with the A383, as well as nearly 2,000 new homes.

There are also plans for 1,275 houses built on green space in the Wolborough Barton area of Newton Abbot which would see a road connecting the A381 Totnes Road at the Ogwell roundabout to the South Devon Highway via the roundabout at Kingskerswell with a new link road proposed through the site.

If approved, then the Local Plan Review Issues Consultation would begin and is scheduled to last for six weeks between May 21 and July 16.