Go-ahead for Totnes care home despite 'monolith' jibe

'Exemplary design' pledge by developers

Developers have been given the go-ahead to build a huge 68-bed care home in Totnes despite being told their ‘socking great building’ looks like a ‘monolith’ and will ruin one of the town’s trademark views.

Gibraltar-based Luna Rock Ltd already has permission to build a home on the sloping site overlooking the River Dart with the same number of beds, having been given permission back in 2018.

But the company came back to South Hams Council asking permission for a larger building which will cater for the same number of people. It will feature a better standard of accommodation and will be an ‘exemplary’ design, councillors were told.

The building will stay within the same footprint but will be slightly higher in places.

Neil McTaggart, whose home overlooks the site off Steamer Quay Road, said the new application was completely different from the one which was given consent six years ago.

He said construction traffic would cause congestion and pollution.

And, he said: “It’s monolithic, and it dominates the space rather than blending into the hillside.

“It is totally out of keeping with Totnes.”

Totnes Town Council member Tim Bennett said his council opposed the new scheme, which went beyond what he and his colleagues thought was acceptable.

Cllr Georgina Allen (Green, Totnes) said she was concerned about overdevelopment of the site and the stability of the ground beneath.

She added: “What used to be a very beautiful entrance to Totnes, from the river, has changed enormously.

“You are coming into a beautiful medieval town and it is already overdeveloped. The massing of these new structures is concerning, and there are genuine concerns about the stability of that hill.

“I supported the original scheme, which had taken real care to blend in. This one just seems a retrograde step.”

Cllr Jacqi Hodgson (Green, Dartington and Staverton) raised concerns about the stability of the site for excavation and piling and described the planned care home as ‘unneighbourly’. She also called on the developers to move heavy materials to and from the site by river barge rather than using local roads.

Cllr Simon Rake (Lib Dem, Blackawton and Stoke Fleming) said it was a ‘socking great building’, and Cllr Victor Abbott (Lib Dem, Ivybridge East) said he was sure Luna Rock would make sure their excavations did not cause any more damage.

“Development happens, towns change,” he said. “In 2024 there are people needing housing. That’s just where we are in life.”

Cllr Hodgson’s move to refuse the application was defeated, and the committee passed it by six votes to three.