Devon councils clash over Torbay’s housing numbers

A row over how many homes a Devon council thinks it can build is brewing because of fears it might try to push extra housing into other areas.

Westminster has set every council in England an annual number of homes it wants them to build, but Torbay is preparing to fight that number because it thinks it is too high.

There are now concerns from other parts of Devon, though, that this approach by Torbay might lead to other councils having to take on even more housebuilding.

East Devon District Council is bringing the issue to one of its most significant committees to discuss fears that the council could end up being forced to take on extra homes that Torbay says it can’t deliver.

In its draft local plan, which will outline the places where homes and businesses can be developed, Torbay states that housing numbers are a “sub-regional matter that needs to be resolved in cooperation with wider Devon authorities”.

But a report prepared for East Devon’s strategic planning committee, which meets on Tuesday (January 6), states: “The case is made (or at least implied) that some Torbay housing should go to other locations in Devon.”

East Devon’s report recognises that Torbay faces “development constraints” and accepts it is a small council area.

But East Devon frequently faces its own problems in trying to meet its housing targets, largely because a huge swathe of it – around two-thirds – is land that holds some form of protected designation, such as National Landscape.

“East Devon also has substantial landscape, environmental and bio-diversity constraints as well as an extensive coastline and yet is seeking to meet its own housing needs even though this entails developing significant areas of green field land, including sites that fall in National Landscape designated areas and otherwise generate environmental challenges,” its proposed response to Torbay states.

“At this stage we remain unconvinced that all options for accommodating housing development in Torbay have been fully explored.

“As such we consider that further work should be undertaken by Torbay Council before finalising any conclusions around accommodating housing needs.”

The East Devon report highlights that Torbay has suggested it could deliver at least 400 homes a year, in line with the long-term average since 1980 – but that is less than half the 950 annual figure the government wants it to achieve.

“Leaving aside issues of whether 950 homes a year could reasonably or acceptably be accommodated in Torbay, it does not set out commentary around whether this number is statistically flawed,” the East Devon report said.

“Nor do they seek to apply a case that says that there is not capacity in Torbay but the shortfall should not go elsewhere.”

At present, Torbay’s 309-page local plan is at a draft stage and is out for consultation until Monday 26 January. Once that concludes, the responses will be considered and a redrafted plan will be consulted on in the summer, and subsequently sent to the government for consideration at the end of the year.

It states that it wants to deliver at least 8,000 homes over the plan period – which extends out to 2045 – equivalent to around 400 dwellings per year.

It suggests developments that could accommodate 100 homes or more should provide at least a quarter of the area as employment space, and states that proposals for housing on previously developed land “will be supported unless they cause substantial harm to the economy, environment or amenity”.

The plan accepts the 400 annual figure is “below the government’s target for Torbay of 950 a a year, “but seeks to maximise the delivery of homes within Torbay’s significant environmental and infrastructure limits, and high level of constraint”, the document states.

“It would represent a return to housing delivery levels not seen since the early 2000s and the more benign economic climate of that time,” the local plan states.

“The figure also sets out a bold target in light of limited economic viability to deliver new homes through the market, despite there being a high level of need.”