A proposed new build in South Milton will completely “change the character of the area” explain residents who have expressed their objections.

Neighbours and residents have objected to the new proposed build at Skerries in South Milton, situated within a mile from Thurlestone. The objections are mainly based on how the property will look compared to the more traditional neighbouring houses.

In a number of objections on the South Hams and West Devon planning application site, the property has been described as, “over dominant”, “over bearing” and out of character with the area.

Mr Bryan-Brown has expressed his objection to the, “huge monolithic boxy structure” that he states is, “out of keeping with the style of the surrounding buildings.”

Other residents have raised similar objections such as Mr and Mrs Fountain who describe the proposed development as, “an undesirable change in character” to the area.

The majority of objections additionally made reference to the fact that the area has been labelled as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the property could disrupt this landscape.

Mr Lewis stated how he thinks the development, “would be totally inappropriate in this AONB with it also being seen so clearly from the South West Coast Path."

The property is situated just off South Milton Road within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but lies just out of the Conservation Area. The existing house was built around the mid 1930s as a typical three bedroom property of the period.

Previously, a planning application for the property was submitted in June 2015 and then withdrawn in August of that year with not dissimilar objections.

The new proposal retains certain aspects of the previous contemporary design, but has decided to only propose a two storey build instead of the original three story build.

As explained on the Design and Access Statement, the proposal is to demolish the existing building to construct a new two storey detached house consisting of five bedrooms with four bath/shower rooms and an open plan kitchen and living room situated on the first floor to maximise the view from the site.

The decision to place the living area on the first floor is an additional aspect of the property that has created controversy. Mr Goodliffe describes this as, “inappropriate in this location”, which would, “greatly impact on the privacy enjoyed by neighbours…and be intrusive when lounge lights are on.”

A spokesperson from South Milton has stated that, “a build like this would not fit in with the nature of the parish.”

“The issue is not that a new build is going up, people are concerned about what is replacing the current building at Skerries.

“It could be the Taj Mahal replacing the building, the main problem would still be that it looks so radically different to the other houses on the road.”

According to the residents of South Milton, South Hams District Council have highlighted that the building can not be objected to purely on the grounds that it is contemporary.

The Village Development Plan which is close to being agreed upon with SHDC was mentioned frequently in the objections; as many residents claimed that the new build does not fit with the new build criteria in the South Milton Plan.

The proposed building will be going forwards to South Milton Council on Monday, October 23.