A DEVELOPMENT of 19 bungalows, dormer bungalows and flats is being proposed for a brownfield site right in the middle of Okehampton.

The site at Rondor and Gunns Yard is off North Street, next door to Okehampton Library and the Pretoria Vaults.

It is in fact made up of two parcels of land, one of which was the site of a bottling factory in the past and the other which was once a house called Rondor.

The site has a planning history, having previously granted planning permission on appeal, in Februrary 2013, for a three-storey 60-bed care home, which has never been built.

This latest application brings together the two plots with proposals for 15 bungalows and dormer bungalows and four flats which will have both pedestrian and road access onto North Street.

Comments are now invited on Southern Homes’ application for outline planning permission, 4113/21/OPA, which has been submitted to West Devon Borough Council.

In the planning statement issued to the council, the applicant described it as ‘a modest residential development of 19 dwellings comprising a mix of bungalows/dormer bungalows and flats with vehicular access to the north of the site from North Street and a pedestrian link on the western edge of the site adjacent to the library providing level access to the town centre, local amenities and shops’.

Comments are being invited on the application by December 23 via the planning section of WDBC’s website.

In other applications submitted to WDBC, is an application to fell an ash tree in the grounds of Okehampton College which has ash dieback. Permission is required because the college site is in a Conservation Area. Comments on application 4208/21/TCA are invited by December 8.

Meanwhile, near Tavistock, the trustees of the Crowndale Estate have applied for Listed Building Consent to carry out substantial roof reconstruction work to preserve outbuildings at Crowndale Farm, which is famous as Sir Francis Drake’s birthplace. This follows the careful restoration of the Mill Barn on the same site.

The application 3129/21/LBC can be found on the WDBC website under planning applications.

A statement issued on behalf of the applicants said they proposed to take ‘great care’ in carrying out the repairs, using local slate and locally grown wood along with salvaged wood taken from the Mill Barn during its restoration.

The statement added: ‘Masonry and timber repairs will follow the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) philosophy of minimal intervention. Here masonry is to be rebuilt, the works will follow the same processes as carried out to the Mill Barn.

‘Great care, planning, sustainability and conservation philosophy are at the forefront of this exciting project.

‘By utilising local skills and quality locally sourced materials and products, the core ethics of sustainability will be achieved.

‘The vernacular buildings on the estate are in need of essential repairs to ensure their existence. Where repair and stabilisation works are being undertaken, the SPAB philosophy of minimal intervention will be applied.’