RETAIL giant Tesco has had its proposal for a new supermarket in Okehampton refused by West Devon Borough Council.

The plans proposed the demolition of existing buildings on the Thompsons Devon site on North Road Industrial Estate, and construction of a new store with a sales area of 3,242 square metres, and 296 parking spaces.

The council's planning committee on?Tuesday voted to agree with the planning officer's recommendation to refuse the plans, by seven votes to two, with one abstention.

The refusal was on grounds of there being insufficient evidence to suggest Okehampton needed a fourth supermarket in the suggested location, and that the store would harm the vitality and viability of the town centre.

Other reasons given for refusal were that the proposed change of land use would result in the loss of a building and associated land currently designated for employment use, and that there had been a lack of a Section 106 agreement for community benefit with the retailer.

Chair of Okehampton Chamber of Trade Ian Bailey welcomed the news: 'The chamber of trade has been against this application since the start, and it is good to see common sense prevail. In our minds, if the application had been given the go-ahead, it would have devastated our high street.

'You just have to look at other similar towns in the south west area to see the appalling effect Tesco has had. We were determined not to let that happen in Okehampton, we are better than that and it is good to see the council make the right decision.'

Both borough councillors for the Okehampton East ward, Cllrs Kevin Ball and Tony Leech, spoke at the meeting to urge the planning committee to refuse the plans to protect town centre businesses.

Cllr Ball said: 'For me, it is simple. As a council we spent money on a retail study to form policies going forward into the future. That study says pretty clearly that three supermarkets is sufficient for the town. We need to follow that policy and national policy too.

'The point of the three town centre supermarkets bringing footfall into the town is a valid one. The issue is if we are trying to catch people in Okehampton, we want them to go elsewhere and spend money in town. This proposal won't bring extra perceivable business into the town.'

Cllr Leech said the plans 'polarised opinion in Okehampton', but described them as 'potentially catastrophic' for the town: 'Should the application go forward, it would have a harmful effect on existing town centre supermarkets.

'Since they came, trading in the town centre has moved towards these supermarkets. Now they are absolutely essential to the prosperity of the town as a whole.

'Tesco are predicting that Co-op could lose around 20% of its business should this go ahead. It is absolutely clear in my mind that if any business lost 20% of its trade, it would be very difficult to for it to go on. The Co-op car park, with its two-hour limit, encourages people to shop elsewhere on their visit. If that site went, there would be a massive knock-on effect for other businesses.'

Cllr Terry Pearce said: 'It is absolutely clear if we approve this, we will be flying in the face of our own policies, national policy and our own retail study. The three supermarkets in Okehampton cover a diverse section of the community's shopping needs.

'It would not just be the supermarkets affected but all other businesses in the community. Lots of businesses would not survive the arrival of a store like this.'