Baker Estates has recently completed the purchase of Sawmills West and Broom Park, two sites in Dartington, near Totnes, from the Dartington Hall Trust.
Each site has been allocated in the adopted joint local plan for residential development and both organisations have pledged to work in partnership to deliver outstanding developments.
Ian Baker, Managing Director of Baker Estates, commented: “We are excited to be working with the Dartington Hall Trust on sites we know are very important to the local community. We will work closely together to produce well designed homes in a well thought out development, including affordable, as well as identifying opportunities for environmental enhancements and community outdoor space.”
Chairman of the Dartington Hall Trust, Dr Greg Parston, said: “We are delighted to be working with Baker Estates who are a local and national award-winning housebuilder in the South Hams. The company has a first-rate track record of delivering excellent new housing developments.
“Another reason we selected Baker Estates, from amongst several other bidders, was because of the company’s strong reputation for public consultation and engaging thoroughly with communities throughout the planning process, which is very important to us.”
Ian Baker added: “We felt it was important to let the community know who had purchased Sawmills West and Broom Park as soon as possible and our intentions with the Dartington Hall Trust to take this forward.
“While these sites have been allocated in the adopted joint local plan for residential development for 40 and 80 homes respectively, we are aware of some concerns which have been raised locally. We look forward to discussing the schemes with local councillors and indeed with the wider community. In an ideal world, we would look to start our consultation process as soon as possible.
“However, as is clearly the case for the foreseeable future, we will not be able to organise a public exhibition which so important to canvass public views and feedback. Depending on the extent of the current lockdown, we are considering more innovative ways of engaging (videoconferencing being an obvious option). We will need to consider the available information that will aid the consultation.”
Ian added: “In the meantime, we would be keen to better understand the issues and features that are considered important to the local community. With the help of the Dartington Hall Trust and at its specific request, we know there are many environmental benefits and mitigations we can offer. We are hoping local people can be patient until such time as we can move on with meaningful engagement later in the year.
“These are difficult times for everyone. Our offices in Newton Abbot are currently closed, as are our building sites which have been made safe and secure. If locals do have any questions or if there is anything you would like us to consider in the meantime, we are asking people to contact us on the email address below and we will respond as soon as we are able.
“We look forward to establishing a dialogue very soon, by whatever means is at our disposal.”
Please email [email protected] with any initial comments and we will get back to you as soon as we can.