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Residents claimed that developers will be given carte blanche to run roughshod if councillors grant permission for an incorrectly sited access road.

Teignbridge Council planners were asked on Tuesday to approve the variation of a condition on planning permission that had previously been granted for a development on Torquay Road, Shaldon.

An access road to five newly constructed homes has been built, but not in accordance with the development plan.

Retrospective planning permission by Park Green has been submitted, but residents have been left furious by the actions of the developers.

HERE IS HOW WE COVERED THE MEETING LIVE

Objecting, David Grainger said: “This access road has been built in the wrong place and if you approve this it will remain in the wrong place.

"It has been built too close to our access boundaries and despite assurances that the approved plans would be enforced, nothing was done, and they continued to build the road wherever they like.

“This, if approved, gives developers across Teignbridge carte blanche to run roughshod over developments and built whatever they like.

“The road is built 4m closer to my boundary than it should have been.

"It should have been 7m away but instead, just 3m of dirt has been left. The original plan should be approved and if not, we will review the whole sorry saga to the ombudsman.”

Robert Thompson, on behalf of the applicants, spoke in favour of the application, and introduced himself as a planning expert and joint vice-chairman of the Planning Committee for Richmond-upon-Thames council.

He stated that this application seeks to confirm the layout of the road and said that the changes were made as the former owners had incorrectly stated their boundaries of the site and secondly, to meet acceptable standards, this was the only layout that meant the curve and the gradient was acceptable.

He added: “The question is whether this is permissible and whether this harms anything. It has no detrimental effect on the gardens of any residents, provides no threat to any property, and the road has been built in accordance with highway regulations and cannot be sited elsewhere.”

Cllr Rosalind Prowse said: “I am always extremely unhappy about retrospective planning applications. If they knew it was wrong, why did they not come to us as say it was not sustainable or viable?”

Speaking to Mr Thompson, she added: “We are being looked down on and ignored and if you are such a planning expert, then you should have come to us in the first place with the concerns and we would have saved a great deal of time and money.”

Highfield, Torquay Road View fullscreen

Cllr Chris Clarance added: “You have to ask the question why the developer went down the road of building the road in the way that they did?

“I tend to sway towards recommending refusal, but I think that we should have a site inspection to see whether the access road is acceptable in the way that it has been constructed.

“At the end of the day, after a site inspection, the committee can decide on what is a difficult decision to be made. A site inspection will show how it should have been built and where it has been built.”

Business Manager for Strategic Place Nick Davies told councillors that this road is equally acceptable as the one that has been granted planning permission and that officers think that councillors should approve this retrospective application.

Councillors voted by 16 votes to two to defer the application for a site visit to be held.