Hundreds of acres of farmland look like disappearing to accommodate Teignbridge's expanding population and economic aspirations.

Proposals released by Teignbridge Council this week include a new settlement at Houghton Barton – rolling farmland between Highweek and Seale Hayne, large-scale development at Wolborough and an urban extension on the south western fringes of Exeter.­

The Preferred Options Core Strategy, as the document is catchily entitled, sets out plans for new homes, jobs, green spaces and community facilities in towns and villages across the district for the next 20 years.

Despite its remote-sounding name, it will affect the lives of each one of us.

It includes land allocations for 12,000 new homes – the figure the government says we will need – and plans to provide 8,000 new jobs, making a job available for every resident of working age.

This is to make the local economy more self sufficient and will mean people do not have to commute to Exeter or Torquay.

The lion's share is concentrated within the 'Heart of Teignbridge' – planning speak for Newton Abbot, Kingsteignton and Kingskerswell.

Major development is planned at Houghton Barton, with the Seale Hayne campus acting as a focus, with 2,500 new homes, employment land, a new primary school and road linking the A383 Ashburton road with the A382 Bovey Tracey road.

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