EDDC Emerging Local Plan

Published: 27 February 2025

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is consulting the public on its emerging Local Plan for 2020-2042, and this closes at 9am on Monday 31st March 2025.

This is your final opportunity to comment on the Plan before it is finalised and goes forward for inspection by the Planning Inspectorate. Once sites have been allocated in the Local Plan it is harder for EDDC to refuse planning permission.

The consultation can be found at:

www.eastdevon.gov.uk/local-plan

EDDC is consulting on 18 chapters. Chapter 5 - Development in the Towns and Villages, includes the proposed allocations for Whimple (P104), which are:

Land at Station Road (Whim 11) - proposal for 33 homes

Land west of Bramley Gardens (Whim 08a) - proposal for 50 homes and a community orchard.

This site was added by the EDDC Strategic Planning Committee at their meeting on 1 November 2024, against the recommendation of the Assistant Director of Planning Strategy and Development Management and planning officers.

Officers were against allocating the site for the following reasons:

• the scale of the development in relation to the size of the village
• concerns regarding the landscape impact on the attractive entrance to the village
• detrimental impact on the setting of a listed building
• some areas of the proposed site are liable to flooding

It is also worth noting that the Bramley Gardens site is wholly located within the Green Wedge which was put in place to protect Whimple from being swallowed up by Cranbrook development.

It is now your chance to give EDDC your views on the Local Plan and the proposed allocations for Whimple.