Champagne celebrations are being organised by protesters who helped to defeat an industrial estate planned for an Area of Great Landscape Value. Newton Abbot engineering firm Centrax wants to develop a 10.28 ha (25-acre) hilltop green field site off Haccombe Path, land which lies within Haccombe-with-Coombe parish, but which is adjacent to Milber Industrial Estate. Members of Teignbridge Council's development control committee rejected the plan on March 6, but its supporters, including the leader, Cllr Alan Connett, voted to bring the matter to the full council which met on Monday. They argued that employment land was in short supply and refusing the scheme could damage the district's economy for years. Some, such as Cllr Gordon Hook, also wanted the new sports field that would be developed alongside the industrial estate. But residents, along with Haccombe-with-Coombe Parish Council, said the scheme would destroy valuable countryside and become a blot on the landscape, visible from miles around. In all, around 250 objections were raised, including 180 letters from nearby residents who feared the project would result in traffic chaos. In the council chamber on Monday, an exhaustive debate lasting more than an hour ended with a vote of 19-13, with one abstention. The same result was arrived at for the linked application to build a new access road to the industrial estate. Haccombe Path resident Josephine Tucker, who helped organise the protest, was thrilled with the outcome. 'It was phantasmagorical result and thanks must go to everyone who supported the campaign,' she said. 'I've got the champagne ready and as soon as we can get everyone together we'll be celebrating.' Mrs Tucker accused Centrax of failing to talk with residents about its plans, a tactic which had lost it support. 'They used to talk with us in the past but not now,' she said. 'If they had come and talked to the community, who knows, the outcome may have been different, perhaps we could have agreed something.' The firm was asked to comment on the application's refusal, but maintained its policy of not talking to the press.