Rock Farm Nursery plans turned down

The owners had hoped to create a new farm shop and garden centre at Chudleigh.

Last year, plans were revealed for the transformation of the Rock Farm Nursery in Chudleigh into a new farm shop and garden centre, with a cafe and a woodland play park, with 100 jobs set to be created.

It would have been on the site of the former Rock Nursery, just off the A38 on the entrance to the town, which has closed for a number of years.

But Teignbridge District Council planners have rejected the scheme under their delegated powers, listing six reasons as to why the plans did not conform with the Local Plan.

Planning officers said:

• There was insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the proposal would not have a significant adverse impact upon Chudleigh Town Centre
• Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the proposed access and highway arrangements would not cause an unacceptable impact upon highway safety
• The proposal is in close proximity to the SSSI and the South Hams Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and is a highly sensitive location for bats. Based upon current information it cannot be ascertained that the proposal will not adversely affect the integrity of the South Hams SAC European Site
• Insufficient information was provided to understand the presence and significance of any archaeological heritage assets within the application area and the possible impact on these.
• Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the proposal would not have an impact upon the setting and in particular the rides and views of the Grade II* Listed Ugbrooke Park.
• Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the proposal would not have an adverse impact upon the setting of Chudleigh Rocks

Documents with the application had said the proposal aims to provide a new facility for the town of Chudleigh and the local community and would see a currently vacant site on the edge of the town re-utilised for the benefit of the town.

They added: “The vision for the new nursery is to improve and promote the existing town centre businesses, provide a farm shop, café, boutique garden retail sales area and to provide a future community asset, which will therefore deliver a significant public benefit to existing and future residents of the village and outlaying communities.

“Overall, this proposal represents an opportunity to create a valuable community asset to the rural community of Chudleigh and the wider Teignbridge District.”

But planning officers believed that the application did not conform with the Local Plan policies, and with none of the ward members calling-in the application to be determined by the planning committee, it was rejected under delegated powers.

An announcement about the rejection which was made on the council’s Facebook page was met with a string on angry responses, most of which cannot be repeated by the Local Democracy Reporting Service due to the libellous accusations being made.

But of those that can, Tina Boon said: “What a complete farce. Agree with all the other comments on here. Cannot believe you keep on granting permission to fell trees, destroy country side and build more houses all around Chudleigh, yet something like this that could bring so many benefits to Chudleigh you turn down.”

James Roberts said: “What a bunch of jokers. Do you have any idea how stupid this makes you sound?”

Mark Marshall said: “If they failed to submit the detailed information required – that is their own fault. But overall, it sounds comical when one considers the impact of other developments in the area?” Carol Perry said: “This makes me so mad, a garden centre with little cafe and shop will benefit the town and bring trade to Chudleigh. How can it be detrimental to wildlife when all those houses are being built opposite? The site was originally a garden centre with shop, cafe and parking so what has changed! At present it is an eyesore.”

Of the 78 comments underneath the post at the time of writing, none expressed support for the decision of the council and their reasons for rejecting it.

In 2018, Teignbridge’s planning committee gave the go-ahead for 229 new homes to be built on the other side of the B3344 from the farm shop site.