Christina Siviter, of Nimrod, Hazeldown Road, Teignmouth, writes:

Cllr Chris Clarance has taken on the task of defending the proposed development on Higher Exeter Road (Teignmouth Post letters, Jan 26), and failed miserably. Just count how many times he has thrown in the word ‘sound’ to justify the planning. It rang hollow the first time. If one of my pupils had plonked this effort on my desk, I’d have thought ‘What are you trying to hide?’.

This recent plan has been on the drawing board since 2012 – they kept quiet about that – and displayed three years ago. A ‘mudslide’ of protests has been ignored, bar a few ‘tweaks’ to the plan, the main one being that the original proposal 30 years ago was for 25 homes; now it is for 255. They have multiplied like the brooms in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. This site was deemed unsuitable then, and still is now. It is fair that Teignmouth should provide a share of Devon’s housing, but just not there, and not so many.

Cllr Clarance eventually admits that Teignbridge Council will benefit from a Community Infrastructure Levy from every house built, of which 15 per cent will be passed onto Teignmouth, rising to 25 per cent if a Neighbourhood Plan is put into place. This means that Teignbridge will receive a one-off payment of 85 per cent – thank you very much – while Teignmouth will be left with the everlasting nightmare of overbuilding. No sign of a Neighbourhood Plan, no nurseries, no extra school places, no doctors, dentists and clinics, no pubs, no meeting halls (except Richard Newton Hall, which cannot offer everything, every day), limited shopping, and difficult bus routes.

He talks glibly of homes for youngsters, something we all wish for, agreed. But look more carefully. Can you see a young mum returning from Ashleigh Way Post Office, struggling to push a buggy up that hill, with a baby in a sling, to reach home that is isolated from the town? She would be weeping with loneliness. This plan is a cynical way of ticking boxes for Government approval, not meeting the real needs of young families.

He briefly mentions work for tradesmen during the build. Well, major developers usually bring their teams with them, and the locals are lucky to get sub-contracts. Go to any big site and see the cars of workers who have travelled a distance. And when the job is finished, where is the future work?

He slips in the weasel word ‘logical’. Logic can only reason with the data presented. So when he announces that the main access road must logically lead out onto the Exeter Road, he completely ignores the terrain and the dangerous traffic. ‘Fifty Years Ago’ – look for our regular column in the next few weeks – there was great concern about lorries losing control down that steep stretch of road, and how to warn long-distance drivers of the approaching danger. This was known 50 years ago! Nowadays, there is the added danger of children crossing immediately below this stretch to reach Hazeldown junior school. There was, and still is, the danger of lorries swerving onto pavements. The need for an access road here would never arise with a small development, where existing estate roads could cope.

Finally, the councillor has shown his true colours. He complains of a development in Shaldon, where just five houses were ‘foisted’ onto the village, unasked. Five, not 255! Meanwhile, the councillor is sitting pretty on Shaldon’s waterfront, and he couldn’t give a damn about Teignmouth. He describes himself as a ‘proud member’ of Teignbridge Council. He should be ashamed of himself.