PLANS for 67 new homes on the outskirts of Exeter are expected to be decided this month, after a neighbouring council raised no objection to the proposals.

Edenstone Homes has applied to Exeter City Council for permission to build the development off Chudleigh Road in Alphington.

The application - reference 26/1139/FUL - was originally expected to be decided by October 29, but a decision is now expected in November.

Teignbridge District Council were consulted because the site’s southern boundary borders its administrative area.

It raised no objection, subject to conditions covering highways, landscaping, ecology and lighting.

The proposal would see an existing property - Silverlands - demolished to make way for the homes, which include both apartments and houses.

The scheme would include a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments and houses of up to four bedrooms.

Edenstone Homes has proposed a minimum of 35 per cent affordable housing, although the application includes flexibility to potentially increase this to 100 per cent if grant funding is secured for all of the homes.

It also commits to at least five per cent of the affordable homes meeting Exeter's standards for wheelchair accessibility.

The plans also include a new vehicular access from Chudleigh Road, alongside connections to neighbouring land.

A pedestrian and cycle connection is proposed towards Markham Lane, together with a vehicle turning head.

More than 10 per cent of the site would be provided as open space, including sustainable drainage, play facilities and measures intended to improve biodiversity.

These include ecological mitigation, such as dark corridors and a bat house.

The site forms part of the wider land south of Alphington, which was allocated for around 500 homes under the Exeter Core Strategy 2012.

More than 75 objections have been lodged against the plans, including from Exeter Civic Society and the Alphington Village Forum.

The Civic Society objected to the loss of Silverlands because it provides a ‘building of character on Chudleigh Road’ which is becoming ‘dominated by new homes’.

Objectors say Alphington has already seen substantial cumulative development, placing increasing pressure on roads and other infrastructure, while reducing the amount of open green space in the area.

They argue the latest scheme would amount to overdevelopment, resulting in the loss of one of the area's remaining areas of open land.

In its planning statement, Edenstone argues that the scheme would deliver significant benefits and represents sustainable development on an allocated site.

‘Overall, it is considered that the proposed development represents sustainable development of an allocated site and would deliver a substantial number of social, economic and environmental benefits’, the statement says.

But opponents believe the principle of further development cannot be considered in isolation from the housing already built or being constructed around Alphington.

To view the planning documents in full, and to comment on the application, visit Exeter City Council’s planning portal and enter ‘26/1139/FUL’ into the search-box.