A PLAN for ten new homes and one change of use to a home in the grounds of a private school on the outskirts of Tavistock have raised concerns about the lack of affordable housing.

Mount Kelly College Foundation governors have submitted the planning application to West Devon Borough Council (WDBC) for the refurbishment of Hazeldon House (a former prep school) on the school site off  Parkwood Road and the demolition of former classrooms to build ten open market homes and the restoration of parkland, landscaping, creation of open space play space and the removal of some trees.The foundation’s plan is for 2-bed cottages, two 4-bed detached houses, two 3-bed  detached houses, one 3-bed detached barn, one 4-bed detached barn, two 4-bed linked barns and one 3-bed detached walled garden house. 

This mix does not address the shortage of smaller homes, say housing officers, while there is also ongoing concern at the shortage of affordable homes in WDBC requires that new housing developments should comprise a mix of housing types, to include more one and two-bedroomed homes, and less four-bedroomed homes than developers might typically want to build and the Mount Kelly site should have a majority of smaller homes.

WDBC has declared a ‘housing crisis’, and Tavistock is said to be one of the highest value housing markets within West Devon, with the cost of a home increasingly pricing out home-seeking families. The council has suggested one third should be affordable houses.

In a report in a response to the plan a borough housing official said any housing mix that is skewed towards larger housing would only perpetuate the pre-existing affordability gap between house prices and local wages, which have a disproportionate impact on lower earners access housing. 

The idea is to support a range of household sizes, ages and incomes to meet identified housing need.

 The right type of choice of homes would then help the sustain a balanced population of ages and families, giving equal access to all residents of housing and public and commercial services and meeting local housing need. The plan has been resubmitted after borough planners recommended refusal of permission on the grounds of the new homes harming the historic significance of Hazeldon House (Grade II Listed); the loss of sport and recreational land; large detached homes would be ‘incongruous in open parkland and the lack of affordable houses — a contribution from the developers should be sought from the developers to redress this need, suggests the borough.

Tavistock Town Council has previously expressed a neutral view with reservations covering the environmental sustainability of the buildings and the mix of housing types. Also, the site is not in the Joint Local Plan for future development. Keith Hollinshead, Mount Kelly governor, said: “Minor layout changes have been made to the application scheme following discussions with WDBC’s planning officer.”  

Otherwise, the application remains unchanged. The new houses will be restricted to the east side of the site to “preserve the importance of the heritage asset, which will be further enhanced by extensive new landscaping to replicate its original 1830s setting”.

Supporters say Mount Kelly College helps Tavistock thrive and the scheme would help the college invest in its own sustainable energy and and help it grow, it is an easy level walk from the town centre, restores an important building and removes the old classrooms, while landscaping will shield the homes. 

Objectors claim the site was not sustainable for housing under the National Planning Policy Framework policies, three recent small-scale housing plans closer to Tavistock were all dismissed as inappropriate by the planning inspectorate, WDBC already has housing land supply in excess of six years and allocated sites, the site should benefit the whole community and the house could be restored to provide communities facilities and ongoing income.