A DEVELOPER building homes in Teignmouth has been issued with a stop notice after residents raised concerns about waste being dumped in a nearby field.

The stop notice, served by Teignbridge District Council (TDC), means that Harrington Homes must cease all work at its site on land at Higher Exeter Road.

A field adjacent to the site has been used by the developer to store waste material, mostly soil, from the work.

For weeks, nearby residents have protested that the dumping was likely in breach of regulation.

And this week TDC have issued Harrington Homes with a temporary stop notice.

Seen by the Mid-Devon Advertiser, the stop notice, which will last until June 27, was issued by TDC as it considers there to have been breaches of the planning control.

In specific, the activity that the notice relates to is ‘the carrying out of works to provide hard surfaces within the development site without discharging the necessary planning condition to ensure there are no adverse flood risk impacts’ and the ‘unauthorised storage of soil on land that contains corky-fruited water dropwort.’

The stop order comes after residents voiced their concerns about Harrington Homes’ 255 home development, chiefly the displacement of materials from the clearance work.

Bill Carpenter, who lives at the top of Higher Exeter Road, a stones throw from the development, said he had ‘grave concerns’ about the waste being dumped.

The exact tonnage of material displaced and presently being stored is not known, but residents have told the Mid-Devon Advertiser that it could be somewhere in the region of 5,000.

Prior to the order being issued, TDC had said it was aware of residents’ concerns and that it was ‘investigating the situation to determine whether the works that have occurred are in breach of planning control’.

And it would appear that the works, or, at the very least, a part of the works have breached the planning control.

In response, TDC issued the stop notice on May 2.

However, as of today, Tuesday, May 6, the Mid-Devon Advertiser has been told by those living nearby that work has, in actual fact, not stopped.

This is despite the stop notice having been served.

The Mid-Devon Advertiser is working to clarify the situation.