THE final stages in the most controversial planning row in Teignbridge will play out online over the next few days.

Legal teams on both sides of the Wolborough Fen planning appeal will sum up their cases before a government-appointed planning inspector considers his decision.

There will also be further evidence from an expert ecologist as the future of the fen is decided.

The area – a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – lies at the bottom of a hillside on which Vistry Homes is building the latest stage of the 1,200-home ‘NA3’ development on the outskirts of Newton Abbot.

Vistry and its legal team say the fen is in safe hands, and the building work will not have any detrimental effect on it.

However, local campaigners say not enough research has been done on how water will drain away from the site on the hillside, and there is a serious risk that water pouring into the ‘priceless’ fen will damage its delicate eco-structure.

The fen is home to a number of rare plant species which are not found anywhere else in Devon.

Ecologist Dr Kenneth Thompson told the hearing that while at one time Britain had almost 3,500 square kilometres of fem, it now had just 10.

A fen is defined as a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water.

The inquiry originally opened at the beginning of August, with Vistry appealing over the council’s inability to make a timely decision on protecting the fen.

Outline planning permission has been granted for the homes, on condition that Vistry demonstrates that there will be no adverse effect on the protected wetland.

Protesters including the Newton Says No group say the builder has not demonstrated that adequately.

The opening of the hearing saw placard-waving protesters at Forde House in Newton Abbot, where detailed evidence of water flows and drainage were examined.

At the start of the hearing King’s Counsel Lord Charles Banner, representing Vistry, referred to the fen campaigners having a ‘deep-pocketed former rock star’ among their number, prompting an angry response from David Knopfler, who lives near Newton Abbot.

A founder member of Dire Straits alongside his brother Mark, he left the band in 1980, and told the inquiry he was now a pensioner and former social worker living in a semi-detached house who had been ‘misrepresented’ throughout his life.

He said Lord Banner had been ‘dismissive’, hoping to conjure the image of a spoilt multi-millionaire living in a large manor house with no interest in those in need of housing.

He said the development was ‘a textbook definition of urban blight’.

The remaining hearing sessions will be streamed live online on Thursday September 3 and Monday September 7, with both sessions beginning at 10am. The live stream is available through the Teignbridge Council website.