Councillors in West Devon have agreed to start work on a planning application for homes in Okehampton.

The district council bought two acres of land next to Wonnacotts Road in the town centre for housing some years ago.

It is likely to cost in the region of £7.6 million to build 30 to 40 homes on it. The council has set aside £100,000 to begin the planning application.

The land could potentially take 60 to 70 houses but the scheme has been scaled back after people said they wanted more green space retained. Sixty per cent of the area will remain as woodland.

The council will look to work with a local housing provider to develop social rented homes and supported living accommodation for people with learning disabilities, with a contribution of £2 million from Homes England. The rest of the costs would be recouped from rents.

In a report for the council’s ‘hub’ committee, it said the site had many constraints, such as trees and flood zones which would affect development and others like contamination and a high-water table which would have a cost or time implications.

If a registered housing provider cannot be found to build and manage the properties, it may consider a council-built scheme.

Currently 218 households with a local connection to Okehampton are on the housing waiting list.

West Devon has committed to providing more homes to respond to the housing crisis.

The report said: “The council is aware of strong feelings locally around retaining the site as green space and through sympathetic design and a lower density of houses on the site it will seek to create an enhanced biodiversity area and open space that encompasses local aspiration.”

The council will hold a public consultation at some stage.

Cllr Neil Jory (Con, Milton Ford) said: “I hope we can progress it but also keeping an eye on costs. We are committing here to quite substantial investment.”

The £100,000 budget comes from an earmarked ‘innovation fund’  and will pay for a pre-planning assessment and associated design, surveys and ecology work before it submits a planning application to its planning committee.