Long-running Newton Abbot housing dispute sees date set for major planning inquiry

A six-day planning inquiry in August could finally bring an end to a long-running wrangle over a major building site on the edge of Newton Abbot.

A government inspector will hear from both sides in a dispute over how water drains from the site. 

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Local environmental campaigners say they fear wastewater from Vistry Homes’ development at Wolborough will damage Wolborough Fen, which is an official Site of Special Scientific Interest and home to rare plant species.

Vistry Homes says the water drains safely elsewhere and that the fen lies outside the catchment area.

In February, a planning inspector heard from both sides of the bitter dispute, which has seen protesters marching across fields and council officers halting work on the site amid concerns that developers had gone too far.

However, planning inspector Tom Bristow decided the two sides were too far apart to resolve the issue without a full-scale inquiry. 

He said at the end of the February meeting: “I have rarely encountered as wide a gulf between the main parties as I have here.”

It has now been announced that the inquiry will run from August 4 to 7 and then again on August 11 and 12.

During the February meeting, Mr Bristow expressed concern that Teignbridge District Council had chosen to attend the hearing without formal legal representation.

Vistry Homes was represented at the online hearing by King’s Counsel Lord Charles Banner, whose previous cases include the proposed third runway at Heathrow and the planned new Chinese Embassy in London.

He has also been tasked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer with drawing up a new planning bill, which critics say would curb the powers of environmental groups.

Vistry is currently building part of a 1,200-home development on greenfield land on the outskirts of Newton Abbot.

The planning inquiry will be held at Teignbridge District Council’s Forde House headquarters.