Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Place and Economy on the Draft Masterplan for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension taken into account the comments received during the public consultation as presented to Cabinet 17 June 2025.

Cabinet had before it and NOTED a report * from the Director of Place and Economy on the Tiverton EUE Area B Masterplan.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Draft Masterplan (Appendix 1) be NOTED.

2.    The Masterplan for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension was NOTED;

3.    Delegated authority to the Director of Place & Economy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration prior to publication to make any typographical, grammatical and formatting changes to the Masterplan for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern urban Extension be APPROVED.

Cabinet had before it and NOTED a report * from the Director of Place and Economy on the Tiverton EUE Area B Masterplan.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration outlined the contents of the report with particular reference to the following:

• This report sought to note the Tiverton draft Area B Master Plan, Officers were not advising that it was to be adopted. Adopted Local Plan Policy required a public master planning exercise on Area B.
• Since the November 2024 public consultation there had been considerable Member involvement with consideration through an all Member briefing on 27 March 2025 and through the Planning Policy Advisory Group (PPAG), whose role was to consider and a debate detail for officers to then prepare Cabinet reports.
• The Area B Masterplan was in appendix 1 and was attached to the report. Area B was the final part of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension (EUE) that needed master planning.
• Consultation on Area B had been extensive, including through the adoption of the Tiverton EUE Master Plan, SPD, the Tiverton EUE Design Guide and Stage One and two public consultations specifically on Area B back in 2020.
• During 2023 a developer got involved in Area B and started to proactively work with land owners and this Council.
• In collaboration with this Council, a Stage one public consultation was undertaken between November of last year and January 2025 on the Master Plan for Area B. The results of that consultation were reported to Cabinet on 17 June 2025 who considered the comments received.
• Any developments on Area B would still be bound to the adopted Tiverton EUE Master Plan SPD has weight in planning decisions and by the policies of the Local Plan Review which were the starting point of any planning application or decision.
• The draft Area B Master Plan was presented to PPAG on 19 August 2025 where after detailed consideration it was recommended to this Cabinet.
• The main points that arose out of that PPAG meeting were as follows:

Ø  Affordable housing - there was a discussion around policy TIV 1 and the amount of affordable housing that was delivered at detailed planning application stage. Officers gave advice on the viability.

Ø  Post Hill- point of access, Members of PPAG were pleased that the comments received through the public consultation had been acknowledged and that the new junction into Area B from Post Hill was being redesigned.

Ø  Allotments- there was a question around there appearing to be a net loss of allotments across the EUE and how the allotments proposed on Area B might be managed.

Ø  Nursing home- there was a question around alternative uses for the site identified for a nursing home on Area B, should there be an over delivery of nursing homes when one was proposed on Area A and others elsewhere within the town.

Ø  Vehicular access from Mayfair into Area B- there was a detailed debate around Mayfair being used as a public point of access to a restricted number of dwellings on Area B.

• The overall design of the Master Plan was based around a series of design principles that were to seek to create a new garden neighbourhood with a character and appearance inspired by the defining characteristics of Tiverton and the immediate surroundings and that were reminiscent of a Garden City environment these included.

Ø  Planning for modern requirements and standards, including making efficient use of land, land for the provision of new homes and took account of sustainability objectives.

Ø  Establishing a firm foundation for a place that was green and leafy, with generous private gardens, making the most of sunlight and natural daylight and creating opportunities for community recycling and food production.

Ø  The Area Master Plan considered a range of nearby settlements, in order to understand the typical settlement structure across Mid Devon. The settlement studies included Bradninch, Thorverton and Silverton.

Discussion took place with regard to:

• Clarification and reassurance that the Council and the Director of Place and Economy would consider any changes happening in Parliament, as MP’s were pursuing that all new housing development needs were to include solar panel or other renewable energy installation.
• That Devon County Council highways team were aware of the concerns around the roads and junctions that were discussed at PPAG.
• The requirement for fire suppressant to be installed in all new builds would that be looked into with this Council? It was confirmed that this may be a building control and building regulation matter.

RESOLVED that:

1. The Draft Masterplan (Appendix 1) be NOTED.

2. The Masterplan for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension be NOTED;

3. Delegated authority to the Director of Place & Economy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration prior to publication to make any typographical, grammatical and formatting changes to the Masterplan for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern urban Extension be APPROVED.

(Proposed by Cllr S Keable and Seconded by Cllr J Wright)

Reason for Decision:

The process for preparing the Draft Masterplan would be in compliance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 and the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement. Planning policy required the completion of a master planning exercise.

Note:* Report previously circulated.