Richard Wyatt-Haines, of The Rocklands, Chudleigh, writes:

An open letter to the CEO Teignbridge District Council, the mayor of Chudleigh, the head of Devon County Highways

I write with reference to the planning processes relating to the development at Station Hill, Chudleigh.

My purpose is not to object to the development, but to highlight that your planning systems and processes have failed to serve the current and future communities of Chudleigh.

It is obvious to anyone who has taken just a fleeting glance at the pedestrian access on Station Hill that it is not suitable for existing pedestrian traffic let alone the increased traffic that will arise from a development of over 200 houses.

And yet, your systems and processes have failed to identify this and have failed to put in place obligations to ensure that the safety of the community is protected. To my mind all parties from the town council, through the district council and to the county planning/highways department have failed.

Sadly, it is very likely that there will be an accident or a death involving a pedestrian on that road all too soon. When it does, you and your colleagues will be responsible. Not directly but by your failure to properly assess the application and address such fundamental flaws.

There is also a secondary consequence. The resulting dangerous access to the town will lead to increased traffic as the residents of the new site will choose to drive rather than walk into town. This will cause unnecessary environmental damage, congestion and increase the risk of accidents in town.

I know from reading the planning minutes that nothing can be done now to change the outcome of the application, and that is not the purpose of my letter. And I fully realise that the applicants have only done what they should be doing, which is to serve their shareholders. This is something they seem to have done well.

You on the other hand have a much wider responsibility to the communities that you serve and you have failed to fulfil that responsibility. All in all, this is a very sad outcome: it is a reflection of your poor quality planning work; and shines a light on weak processes and systems that don’t seem focused on the communities that you serve. I very much hope that you will review what has happened and remedy the obvious weaknesses so that others are not put at risk again in the future.