A PETITION highlighting growing concerns within Okehampton over the effect Government housing targets could have was presented at 10 Downing Street last Friday.
The petition which calls on the Government to rethink the scale of the new housing being earmarked for Okehampton was organised by a local campaign group.
The Okehampton Sustainable Development Group believes Okehampton will not be able to accommodate the 900 new houses planned for the town up to 2026 without 'severe and totally unsatisfactory' consequences.
Campaigners are concerned about the additional strain the proposed development would place on the market town's infrastructure, including roads, schools and healthcare provision.
Since its launch, the petition has attracted 2,653 signatures from residents anxious for their concerns to be highlighted.
The presentation of the petition to Downing Street was organised by local campaigner Mel Stride, who is one of the founding members of the campaign group.
Speaking after the presentation of the petition he said: 'We went to No 10 to make sure that the Prime Minster is aware of the strength of feeling of local people of all political persuasions about the sheer scale of the new housing that Okehampton is being expected to absorb.'
Fellow campaigner Carol Hookway, who was also at Downing Street, said: 'We are hoping that our action will encourage other communities up and down the country to stand up and join our fight against the massive levels of overdevelopment being inflicted on so many rural communities — we hope that our action will snowball.'
Pam Stewart, who is also a member of the group, said: 'We do not want Okehampton and our beautiful countryside concreted over and we will be vigorously continuing our campaign.'
Group member Theresa Bishop added: 'The town has seen an increase of over 40 per cent in population since 1991 and a further 500 houses are already due to be built by 2011. Enough is enough.'