Community orchard at risk from plans for new homes

Residents have criticised plans to build 160 new homes in a village because the build would result in the destruction of an orchard.

Developer Pearce Construction (Barnstaple) Ltd has proposed 48 affordable homes in West Yelland, near Barnstaple, in plans which would need the community orchard to be removed for access.

The Lagoon View Community Orchard Association said it "actively opposed" the plans despite them showing a new orchard would be created.

North Devon District Council said the application was in a consultation period and it would assess all planning considerations while balancing the application's "benefits and impacts."

The development would predominantly comprise two-storey houses with a number of bungalows, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Pearce Construction said it would undertake replacement planting, as well as improve community facilities.

However, vehicles would still need to go through the existing orchard.

Peter Thorn, chair of the Community Orchard Association, said the "community has spent years building up this orchard from virtually nothing and we are determined to save it".

"We aren't anti-development, but destroying this community asset is completely unnecessary when alternative access points exist," he added.

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