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HOUSING
Young people wishing to remain in Plymtree
32 young people (of 103 who responded) would like to stay in Plymtree as adults, while 31 look to a future elsewhere, and 40 "don’t know".
People looking for accommodation
Only 5 respondents said they were seeking accommodation separate from other members of their household, but 31 people were looking to move. Most (24) wanted to buy a property, two of whom were looking for a starter home, 6 wanted private rented accommodation and 2 more were seeking Council housing (having been on the Housing Register for over 4 years). Three hoped for a County farm.
Strangely, 13 more people than the 31 in the previous question stated their property preference. 66% wanted a house, 41% sought a bungalow, the other 5 seeking a flat or mobile home.
Comments about housing
Plymtree is a nice SMALL village; it would be a shame if it ended up like Whimple.
Most of the new housing is open-plan, which leads to problems when livestock are moved, or escape, an inevitable part of rural life.
Housing in Plymtree over the next 10 years
377 people gave their views on how the housing stock of the village should develop over the next 10 years. 158 (42%) wanted it to remain the same as at present, while 157 (42%) would be happy to see up to 30 extra houses over that period (ie up to 3 new houses per year, on average).
Other acceptable numbers were 40 houses (5 people), 50 (16) and 100 (11). Over 100 would be welcomed by only 3 respondents. 27 had no opinion.
There is a lack of sheltered accommodation for the elderly.
Unless the village evolves it’ll become stagnant and lack support for its facilities, ie school, shop.
It would be a great shame to increase the population in Plymtree. 20 new houses would mean 30-40 more cars coming in and out of Exeter/Cullompton, and the lanes would become more dangerous. 20 new houses could mean around 40 new children and that would affect a great School. No more please.
The state of the roads would not support more housing.
Plymtree is a village, not a small town or a hamlet. Changes to the community should be based on keeping it a village
Of the 602 responses from 360 people to the question, "What kind of housing do you think Plymtree needs?", 34% answered "None", while 34% thought housing for young people was needed, and another 32% wanted housing for local people. Other categories of housing were for large families (15%), for low income families (15%), for the elderly (13%), sheltered accommodation (10%) and for the disabled (6%).
Acceptable housing development
Of the 334 respondents 125 (37%) say that no houses should be built at all. Of the 209 supporting some kind of development, less than two-thirds thought that sales should be unrestricted. [83 (25%) thought that sales should be restricted (eg to local people only) and there was also support for building homes to rent with 53 respondents (16%) mentioning Housing Associations and 37 (11%) Local Authority housing.]
While nearly a quarter of the 354 people who expressed an opinion about what types of development would be acceptable said that none was, 44% would be happy with the conversion of redundant buildings, over a third thought that single buildings were OK, and another quarter were in favour of small groups of houses.
24% would accept expansion to meet local needs, and expansion of the village boundaries was agreed by 11%. Only 4 people would accept a large site within the built-up area of the village.
Do new houses all need to be open-plan with pavements? Open-plan is not traditional Devon building, and rural houses look much nicer with grass verges (the bungalows near Applands look very nice with the grass verge).
Keep lots of green areas and vegetation should figure highly. Trees or shrubs planted around any new building.
The village currently has the right balance of modern and old property - one of its main attractions - and it would be disastrous to destroy that balance and try to make the village too big for its infrastructure. You only have to look at Feniton to see what can go wrong!
Although some new houses will need to be built over the years, care must be taken not to allow the village to become another vast building site with endless rows of new houses. Just look at the state of surrounding villages (Willand, for example) and ask yourself if you want Plymtree to be like them.
342 respondents (96%) answered "Yes" to the question, "Do you think it is important for any future building development to be sympathetic to the character of the village?"
Features sought in & around new buildings
People were asked to state what features they would like to see in any new houses to be built in the village. There was overwhelming support for rendered walls and slate (rather than tiled) roofs, and many would like to see Devon banks instead of walls around their gardens.
General comments about housing: Many expressed fears that additional housing would put a strain on services in the parish; over-stretched water supply and sewage disposal systems, and roads becoming more dangerous because of increased vehicle traffic, were all repeatedly mentioned. People stressed that they wanted to keep Plymtree as a village, its present size and composition being the reason many people loved the village.
Antipathy to any new housing was expressed by 42% of respondents, while of those willing to accept some building a similar percentage wanted no more than 30 new houses over the next 10 years.
Recommendations:
1. There should be very little new housing.
2. Any new housing should be in character with the village.
3. There should be no more housing estates.
4. It would be advantageous for any new housing to attempt to maintain a mixed population in terms of age, financial status and origin (ie locals and incomers).
5. The Parish Council may wish to consider gathering views, in order to create a Parish Design Statement, which would enable house-design restrictions to be imposed when planning permission is granted.
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Page Created: July 2000
This Information was provided by Corporate Information Services
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