DOMINIC CLIFTON , of Old Town Street, Dawlish, writes:

Last week's front cover of the Dawlish Post(02/09/11) featured a concerned looking farmer and his soon-to-be-developed land on Secmaton Lane. However, I believe Andrew Goodridge doesn't really care about the land he sold to developers eight years ago. Indeed this large development is very controversial for several reasons.

1. It's being built on greenfield land that lies outside the 'residential development boundary'. It is classed as open countryside.

2. The site has rare wildlife including dormice and the cirl bunting, both protected under European law. Indeed, Teignbridge has its very own Cirl Bunting Action Plan! Any 'compensatory habitat' provided would not be enough to avoid their demise.

3. The development is undemocratic. More than 970 objections were submitted. Teignbridge ignored all of these concerns.

4. The previous town council, Natural England, and the RSPB along with many others also objected to the development.

5. All homes built will have an average of two cars, adding well over 500 vehicles onto an already congested seaside town. It will also make it easier for more housing to be approved.

6. The development also goes against planning guidelines with only 15 per cent affordable housing reported in their article. The recommended level is 40 per cent. The vast majority of homes will go to investment buyers from outside the area.

7. Local services such as doctors will become even more overstretched reducing the overall quality.

I have to add that I never even received a reply to my objection and this just illustrates the undemocratic and unfair process where developers are given the opportunity to re-appeal whilst the public is effectively locked out of the process.