ANOTHER developer has managed to reduce the number of affordable houses they must provide as part of their planning permission.

Last year landowner, Adrian Bunclark, won approval to develop a 1.5 hectare greenfield site at Vicarage Hill, Kingsteignton, on condition that 40 per cent of the new homes would be affordable.

On Monday, members of Teignbridge planning committee reluctantly agreed to lower that to 25 per cent.

District and town council member Cllr Beryl Austen, who lives opposite the site, declared a prejudicial and personal interest and left the chamber. Before exiting she urged members to think carefully.

Similar applications have been made elsewhere in the district, which she said had set a precedent.

She said that of Kingsteignton's 13,000 population, 200 were in housing need. It was largely the promise of 40 per cent affordable homes that persuaded the town council to support the application in the first place.

'We were told that the development was viable at 40 per cent. Now we have an application to reduce that to 25 per cent.

'It just makes it easier for others to jump on the bandwagon. I would ask you to think seriously about agreeing to lower this.'

Nick Davies, service manager development control, said that when the committee considered the application they were working to a target of 40 per cent on all sites. Since then the council had commissioned an affordable housing viability appraisal. The policy was agreed last December to lower the target to 25 per cent in certain areas.

'The application is merely proposing something enshrined in our own policy. It will be very difficult to refuse.'

He said that the 25 per cent was not dependent on government grants but that if they became available, the number of affordable homes would be ratcheted up.

Cllr Rosalind Prowse said: 'If we refuse it would go to appeal, we would lose and it could then go down to ten per cent as has happened in the past.'

Cllr Sylvia Russell agreed the committee was in a cleft stick.

'You tend to think that developers will promise anything to get planning permission. They then come back 12 months down the line and want to vary the application.'