A planning appeal was heard into Redrow Homes (West Country) Ltd application to build 175-200 homes at Reynell Road, Ogwell Cross, this week.

The application, on 7.8 hectares of farm land and a pig farm, includes provision for open space, nature reserve, children's play area, bus loop, a shop/community building and highways works.

The developer has offered to pay £400,000 towards public transport, £200,000 to improve pitch facilities and a further 'financial provision' towards secondary education.

Ian Dove QC, representing Redrow Homes, said that refusal by council officers was 'both premature and unreasonable'.

In his opening address, Mr Dove said the development would include 60 per cent affordable housing, which would help solve Newton Abbot's 'affordable housing crisis'. According to the Teignbridge Local Plan, the appeal site is classified as countryside. Mr Dove said that under The Local Plan Initial Deposit Version First Review, the appeal site is allocated for housing.

This document was abandoned, however, when the government changed the goal posts and councils had to start preparing Local Development Frameworks instead.

Council solicitor Simon Barnes said that Redrow Homes was putting too much weight on this document, which had never gone out to consultation.

The first part of the new framework, The Core Strategy Preferred Options, is likely to be rubber-stamped by the council's executive on Monday. 'The direction of growth which is to be recommended does not include the appeal site,' Mr Barnes said. Instead the document will favour a 'northern option'. WBB Minerals has already put in a bid to build 189 houses, on brownfield land at Jetty Marsh. Its scheme involves substantial spending on new roads, moving Newton Abbot Rugby Club with public benefits in terms of access to large areas of land and a badly-needed outdoor athletic track and associated sports facilities.

Geoffrey Gardner, representing WBB Minerals, argued that the Ogwell Cross scheme could prejudice his client's scheme, if allowed to go ahead.

He said that scheme only generated 12 objections, whereas 139 people were against the Reynell Road plan. Objector Jacqui Orchard, of Reynell Road, said she feared the extra traffic generated by the development would make backing out of her steep drive hazardous.

'I want to know why they can't build an access road on to Denbury Road,' she said.

Clifford Trump, a resident of Westwood Road for 20 years, was worried about the impact on car parking and the safety of pedestrians along Reynell Road, which is narrow and without pavements.

The inspector, Pete Drew, will now consider the findings before making a decision.