Plans to build up to 75 homes in green fields on the outskirts of Buckfastleigh have been given the go-ahead, as long as the builder keeps a promise on affordable homes.

Members of the Dartmoor National Park Authority’s development management committee heard that the land off Timbers Road was already earmarked for housing in the local plan.

Now they have given the homes the green light after receiving assurances on access to the site and drainage of surface water.

Exeter-based Low Pressure Developments came to the committee for permission to build the houses, widen roads around the site and build footpaths. Precise details of the design will come later.

A previous application to build on the site was dismissed at an appeal in 2023 for technical reasons.

The meeting heard that 34 of the homes would be ‘affordable’, and 24 of those would be for rent. The development will mean more traffic, but not a ‘significant’ amount, the meeting was told.

Members had questions about the drainage of the site, and Sally Morgan told colleagues: “We could be approving something that channels water down into an area that already floods. The road is going to be like a river with some of the flooding events we have.”

Planning agent Alex Graves said the proposal represented more than five years of work. He said the homes would meet a significant local need and there would be no increase in the flood risk.

He said: “This is a worthy scheme that simply seeks to establish a principle for affordable homes to meet a proven need.”

The committee voted unanimously to back it, but Dan Thomas stressed the importance of sticking to the pledge on providing affordable homes.

He said: “We ought to make it very clear that if we approve this application, we do so with the figure for affordable housing being sacrosanct.

“Providing 45 per cent affordable homes is tremendous, but it’s a cornerstone of any permission being granted.”

Teignbridge District Council (TDC) have raised no objection to the proposed development.

While it raised no objection, TDC said the key planning considerations, from its perspective, are likely to be ecology, highways capacity and safety and landscape impact.

The proposal ‘may adversely impact greater horseshoe bats by loss of foraging habitats, severance or illumination of flyways’, the council said.

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The site is within the Buckfastleigh Sustenance Zone of the South Hams SAC.