Baker Estates, based in Newton Abbot, held two public exhibitions of its plans for a residential-led, mixed-use development on land to the east of Gribble Lane and south of London Road.
The two exhibitions were held on Thursday 25th April at the Community Hub at Rockbeare Village Hall from 10am to 12pm and then at the Younghayes Centre in Cranbrook from 3pm to 7pm.
The site is allocated for development as part of the Grange Expansion Area within the adopted Cranbrook Plan.
Baker Estates proposals include around 500 homes, a community hall and a neighbourhood centre. This could provide a range of uses including shops and commercial space towards London Road, ensuring these facilities are well related to the proposed development to the north and within easy reach of residents.
The Baker Estates proposal will deliver a number of positive benefits to the local community including a bespoke range of open market homes meeting local identified housing requirements. In addition, 15% will be affordable homes for local people.
The plans also showcased multi-functional green spaces including formal and informal play, allotments and amenity space, for the community to enjoy, promoting healthy and active lifestyles.
The southern part of the site will be dedicated as SANG (‘Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace’). This will provide sustainable opportunities for recreation, with new circular accessible routes created, habitat creation, increasing access to nature, and providing connections provided to the wider landscape.
Baker Estates says that ‘Sustainable living’ sits at the heart of its planned development, with neighbourhoods designed to be walkable, served by good quality pedestrian and cycle links with roads designed to incorporate bus services.
Local Cranbrook resident, Gillian White, visited the public exhibition and commented: “I’m very passionate about Cranbrook and wanted to come along today to see Baker Estates’ plans. Overall, I’m very encouraged and supportive.”
Graham Hutton, Operations Director at Baker Estates, commented: “We received some positive feedback from locals on our outline proposals and we’ll be looking to incorporate some of the suggestions into our proposal before we submit to East Devon District Council.
“An outline application determines the principle of development together with the means of access. If successful, we would then prepare more detailed plans which we would share with the community then come back to the community, prior to submitting a number of ‘reserved matters’ planning applications.”
The deadline for feedback is Friday 10th May and all the information can be viewed at bakerestatesconsultation.co.uk with feedback forms available