The residents of Okehampton are furious at plans to build an extra 1,400 houses in an area which has already lost its community spirit, they say, owing to over-development (link below.)
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144125&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232450&contentPK=20406864&folderPk=108202&pNodeId=251466Two residents presented petitions opposing the extensive developments in Okehampton over the next 18 years to West Devon Borough Council at a meeting yesterday.
The town will be shouldering the majority of the burden of extra housing - nearly a third - earmarked for West Devon.
This would increase the population of the town by almost 150 per cent.
In total, the authority must provide an extra 4,500 houses in the borough by 2026.
Okehampton resident Carol Hookway made an emotive speech to the councillors at the full council meeting, highlighting the existing problems the town currently faces.
She said:
"Okehampton has Victorian sewers which are struggling to cope now. Raw sewage has already been seen in Exeter Road - how will it cope with a further 1,400 new dwellings?
"We have no Job Centre, too small a hospital, too few doctors and dentists, not enough jobs, a bad traffic problem - how are we supposed to cope with a further 1,400 houses?"
Mrs Hookway said that since the Job Centre closed last year, people had had to spend one fifth of their job-seekers' allowance on a 20-mile bus journey to Exeter to sign on. "The town simply doesn't have the jobs, services or the facilities for a further 1,400 houses," she said.
Five years ago, a survey carried out by the Highways Agency revealed the town was "just able to cope" with the traffic problems.
Mrs Hookway, 57, said: "The situation is far worse now and will only get worse still. Development should be on a scale relevant to a rural area, you can't put urban development into a rural setting."
So far, 548 signatures have been collected opposing the housing developments in Okehampton, but Mrs Hookway said she planned to get every person in the town supporting the cause - which would mean 7,000 signatures.
Margaret Woolacott, 64, of West Ockment Friends' and Neighbours' Association, told the council that people were fed up that it takes 20 minutes to drive through Market Street and Fore Street, which would take only one minute to walk.
Further proposed development in this area of the town would exasperate residents even further, she said.
Resident Pam Stewart, 52, said the town had also lost its community because people travel to Exeter or Launceston for shopping to avoid visiting the grid-locked town centre.
Recent railway news related to Okehampton can be found in the links below.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2421.msg18087#msg18087http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2338.msg17477#msg17477
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