CASE TO RETAIN THE GREEN WEDGE BETWEEN THE PARISH OF LYMPSTONE AND EXMOUTH.
Background
A plan to develop 9.9 hectares (24.5) acres) of land north of Courtlands Lane, Lympstone was presented at an exhibition to the General Public at Exmouth Sports’ Centre on Tuesday November 3 2009. Strategic Land Partnerships intends to submit an outline planning application to East Devon District Council for a mixed use development. It is claimed that the application’s aim is to combine high quality design with the latest measures to create sustainable development.
The site is comprised of four fields. Three of the fields [Numbers 328 (3.86 acres), 327 (7.40 acres) and 283 (3.7 acres)] on the Ordnance Survey Map previously owned by the Hull Estate were acquired by Mr T C Adams of Strategic Land Partnerships in the Second Quarter of 2008 for the sum of £335,000. Field 325/326 (7.4 acres) located in the southwest corner of the area designated for development appears to have been acquired by Strategic Land Partnerships in 2009.
The fields described above sit on the geographical/hydrological watershed that runs west-south-west from Lympstone Common to the Exe Estuary. It is also a conduit for wildlife movement between Woodbury Common and the Exe Estuary. The Land Use Category for all fields is Grade 1 – land with very minor or no physical limitations to agricultural use. Yields on this grade of land are consistently high on these soils and cropping highly flexible since most crops can be grown including more exacting horticultural crops. Significantly, Figure 1 reveals that the land occupied by the proposed site is of higher quality than the majority of land in Exmouth and its environs.
Figure 1 - Grade 1
agricultural land shown in dark blue.
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Long term residents in Courtlands Lane remember arable crops being produced on these fields. For the past 25 years they have been used for a hay crop in the summer and grazing for sheep and cattle in the remainder of the year.
The following figures illustrate the current land usage and provide a visual reference for the points made later in this document in support of this environment remaining undisturbed.
Figure
2 – Variety of flora demonstrates the quality of grazing in Field 328.
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Figure
3 - View over Field 328 northwest towards Lympstone. 
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Figure 4 – View northwest
over Field 283 towards Lympstone.
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Figure
5 – View south west across Field 283 towards the Exe Estuary.
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Figure
6 - View South across Field 325 towards properties on the southern side of
Courtlands Lane.
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Figure
7 – View southeast across Field 328 towards the properties on the north side of
Courtlands Lane.
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The quality of the land is self-evident from the figures above. Not shown in these images is the topographical shift from essentially level land to steeply sloping land on the southern flank of the Wotton Brook catchment. This has significant implications for the hydrological impact of building on these fields.
THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURE PLAN 1995 TO 2011
The proposed development is located on a greenfield site in open countryside and outside any defined build-up area boundary. It would represent a visual intrusion into the open countryside. Designated as an Area of Great Landscape Value, this proposal would be at variance with the provisions of Policies D1 (Design and Local Distinctiveness), EN2 (Areas of Great Landscape Value and S5 (Countryside Protection) of the East Devon Local) Plan 1995-2011. The proposal presented by Strategic Land Partnerships is therefore highly detrimental to the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside.
The fields listed in the Background Section of this document are the buffer between the urban sprawl of Exmouth and a typical rural Devon scene of rolling hills and small settlement nestled in a valley. The fields are the southern boundary of the Green Belt, or Green wedge as it is now referred to.
The fundamental aim of Green Wedge policy is:
- to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.
- to check the unrestricted urban sprawl of large built-up areas.
- to prevent neighbouring towns/villages from merging into one another.
- to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.
- to preserve the setting and special character of historic settlements and to assist in urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land
The proposed development conflicts with these objectives.