South Hams district council have refused the controversial planning application to build three detached dwellings on the land opposite Lyndale Onslow Road, Salcombe.

The application received by SHDC on April 25, 2016, was met with a vast amount of objections and supporters alike during its lengthy planning process.

After refusing it earlier in the process, Salcombe town council had no objections to the most recently submitted plans. However, the council noted that the bench currently situated above the property had a public view looking down the creek and the proposed development would eliminate this.

When the most recently revised application reached district council, the plans were refused this week for the following reasons.

The standard decision notice said the “design, siting, height, scale, form, bulk and massing” of the development would “result in an unduly overbearing, dominant and unneighbourly development”. It would be detrimental to the neighbours surrounding the site, by creating an “increased sense of enclosure, overlooking, loss of privacy and overshadowing”.

In addition, the proposal would create a development that would be “inappropriate” due to the layout and the “absence of opportunities for the retention of natural features”. The “overtly urban nature” of the appearance of the development would fail to positively respond to the local townscape character or “enhance the landscape and scenic beauty of the South Devon AONB”.

The absence of adequate drainage and ground stability details was also addressed. The standard decision notice said the proposal failed to demonstrate how surface water would be dealt with, in the absence of which “the proposal could give rise to an increased risk of flooding elsewhere, and land instability” which could impact the safety and amenity of neighbours.

The officer report by Ian Lloyd also highlighted the impacts to the character of the surrounding area if the development was built, and the consequences to access, parking and turning.

A significant number of objections and supporting comments were summarised in the officer report, to understand the representations from the residents of Salcombe.

In December last year, Salcombe Town council withdrew their objections to the revised planning application. Applicants Martin King and Martin Payne attended the last town council meeting of 2017 to explain their amendments after previous objections from the town council.

Mayor Mike Fice said he felt the height reduction of two of the homes had resolved a previous issue raised by the town council. However, concerns were raised about a view from a road side bench which could be blocked by the development.

Cllr Tony Lang emphasised the importance of this view and believed that the previous objections based on this disruption to the view, should remain.

However, councillors decided to not object to the revised plans but noted that the view from the bench to the creek would be obscured.

To view the plans and the decision notice, use the 1240/16/FUL reference number on the SHDC planning website.