Residents have renewed their complaints about the loss of a green space after a developer placed a large static caravan on the site.
Last Sunday, at around 3.30pm, a truck with a crane, carrying a large static caravan, swept into Seymour Drive, Townstal, and quickly deposited the caravan on the land.
This is the latest incident in a dispute which began in June 2017, when residents complained about the space, which they had been using like a park, being fenced off.
Housebuilder Linden Homes failed to obtain planning permission to develop two houses on the site in 2016. In 2017, owner Nicholas Unwin, a resident of Ipplepen near Newton Abbot, launched an appeal, which was refused in October last year.
Cllr David Gent, chairman of Dartmouth Town Council’s planning committee, summed up the situation following the arrival of the caravan.
He said: “In the last two years, there have been two planning applications and both have been rejected by South Hams following recommendations to do so by Dartmouth council. We believed that it would be an overdevelopment of the site.
“About six to seven months ago, the fence appeared and since then we’ve been trying to have it taken down.
“If you put something temporary up, like the fencing, you are allowed some leeway but months later, we have received no further planning application and no evidence that the owner is going to remove the fence.
“The South Hams enforcement officer has been to the site and we understand that South Hams was about to make arrangements for the removal of the fencing. Now a caravan has arrived. It is an enormous caravan and, even if the fence was to go, the caravan has only just arrived so we can’t remove it. The owner is playing cat and mouse with us.”
David Shaw, who lives near the site, said: “The mobile home was delivered by crane Sunday afternoon.
“The owner appealed to the Secretary of State for planning and failed. So he’s been thwarted twice.”
Derek Parsons, who lives in Seymour Drive, also witnessed the arrival of the caravan. He said: “The caravan arrived at a hell of a pace. They swept in and almost knocked my wife over.”
Val Gibbons, who lives in Townstal, said: “My partner has just come from Lidl and saw the caravan and the site.
“David Gent told me that the fence was coming down before Christmas. He assured me that it would be down in a few weeks. This whole thing comes at a time when residents seem not to think of others.
“People now park half on the pavements. They don’t use their drives and never use their garages. It is like tin pan alley now around Townstal. Large motor homes poke on to the pavements from drives. Nobody seems to care.”
The owner of the site has been contacted by letter for comment, but had not replied at the time of going to press.
In refusing planning permission for the site, the Secretary of State said: “The harm that would arise from the loss of the open space and the effect of this on the character and openness of the area is significant.
“Although the benefits that would arise from the scheme are important, the overall effect of these would be modest given the small scale of the proposal.
“Considering the matter in the round, I conclude that the adverse effects of the development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh its benefits.”
South Hams District Council was asked for a comment on the situation but had not replied at the time of going to press.