A MAJOR planning application, which will see more than 90 new homes built in Chagford, was given the thumbs up by planners last week.

Dartmoor National Park Authority’s planning committee approved the application by C G Fry and Son Ltd for 93 houses, a new public car park and link road, employment space, new fire station, public toilets and public open space at a meeting on Friday.

The development will include 28 affordable homes and is one of the largest housing developments to be approved within the national park. It will also be the first big development in Chagford since the 1970s.

An earlier approval for 15 units of specialist housing for older people being developed by Blue Cedar Homes is already underway. Last week’s approval will be on the remainder of the site and will deliver the vision set out by Chagford Parish Council in its 2007 Chagford Design Statement, which set out to deliver new affordable homes, provide a new car park and rejuvenate the town.

To provide certainty for the town’s vision, Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) allocated the site in its 2013 Local Plan. A masterplan, supported by DNPA and C G Fry and Son, then brought the town together to shape how best to develop the site and deliver the community’s vision.

The final scheme is of a high quality design and provides a mix of energy efficient new homes. DNPA planners have also successfully negotiated a range of community benefits at a challenging time for the delivery of affordable housing.

James McInnes, chairman of the DNPA planning committee and also West Devon Borough councillor for Chagford and Hatherleigh and Devon County councillor for the Hatherleigh and Chagford division, said: ‘This is perhaps the largest scale housing application ever to come before the community or anywhere else in the national park for that matter. It is interesting to note that on such a large scale proposal there has been almost overwhelming support of the key stake holders.

‘This illustrates the benefits of working in partnership with the local community. The planning committee was pleased to be able to endorse a high quality scheme put forward by award winning builders and looks forward to seeing the completed project and the community benefits that will flow from that.’

Gay Hill, chairman of Chagford Parish Council, said the council was pleased that the application had been approved.

She said: ‘Obviously we are thrilled with the approval — it has been a long time in the making. Chagford’s last big development was in the 1970s. Since then we have only had bits and pieces.

In the mid 2000s we set up a working group for the Village Design Statement. In 2008 the statement was adopted by the parish. We worked with the developers and DNPA to create a masterplan — we had aspirations that we wanted a second car park, business units, affordable housing for local people and affordable housing for local people to rent.

‘There was a wish to have a sheltered housing scheme for the elderly population, which got permission last autumn — although they have pushed ahead, that would never have gone ahead if we hadn’t agreed on the new car park, link road and affordable housing.

‘We’ve consulted with the parish on so many occasions, the last one was back in February. We want this development because Chagford’s population is only 1,500 and it’s been 1,500 for the last 40 years, give or take a few — it hasn’t really grown in that time.

‘People don’t have big families any more, once in a while there is a bit of a baby boom but then people move away to where their careers take them. We don’t have any real industry in the town, we have a cottage industry so this is about sustaining the town.

‘We need to boost Chagford in one way or another and we are hoping we can attract people to the town and hopefully keep Chagford going. If we can maintain the school population and encourage people in, we can make Chagford vibrant again.

‘We are thrilled the application has been approved but we know it will still be two or three years until the first house will be built.’