RESIDENTS and Ivybridge Town Council have vowed to fight on after permission was granted for two homes with proposed access off Kennel Lane.

The plans have been dogged by controversy, with Woodlands locals saying vehicles must not be allowed in the narrow road, pointing to a 1986 traffic regulation order that prohibits motors.

Kennel Lane borders a popular park and is very close to Woodlands Park Primary School and the Dame Hannahs school. Objectors said that, while they are not opposed to the development of the two houses, they fear for the safety of pedestrians in Kennel Lane, including children, parents with pushchairs and disabled people.

South Hams Council’s development committee made the decision last Wednesday in the face of vocal opposition.

Local woman Dee Marshall spoke as an objector, backed by Ivybridge council’s planning committee chair Cllr Tom Bowden and one of the town’s district councillors, Mike Saltern.

As well as the risk of reintroducing traffic in Kennel Lane, objectors have identified what they say are a range of procedural issues with the way the application was handled. Local resident Peter Diment set out these points in an email to ­planning officer Matthew Jones on the eve of the development committee meeting, saying that he found it ‘very concerning that such considerable errors are being made by public officials, especially in the controversial and potentially sensitive area of planning’.

Afterwards, Ms Marshall said: ‘The development of the barns has now been approved, but the vehicular access along Kennel Lane hasn’t. For access to

be approved, Devon County Council will have to advertise the proposed amendments to the Traffic Regulation Order.

‘When the proposed amendments are published, we will have a maximum of just three weeks to register our objections.

‘We’ll all need to make a huge collective effort and submit objections in their hundreds; residents hope that this many objections will make the local planning authority sit up and take notice of our deeply held feelings.

‘Local residents are extremely worried about this issue and have a genuine fear about the danger the vehicular access will bring.

‘It may not necessarily ­happen now, or even tomorrow, but at some point we all hope that South Hams Council and Devon Highways will not have to look deeply at a decision they made and realise that their actions have caused a tragedy.

‘Good sense must prevail. As a community we will stand up, object and demand to be heard and taken seriously.

‘We’re not “scaremongering”, as one supporter suggested. We’re talking sense.’

In his address to the development committee, Cllr Bowden added his and the town ­council’s support to residents fighting any change to the TRO.

‘Kennel Lane isn’t suitable for use as a shared surface and this was recognised nearly 30 years ago when a TRO was put into place in July 1986 prohibiting the use of the lane by motor vehicles,’ he said. ‘The only exception being the use of the lane by agricultural vehicles until July 1989, when they too were banned.

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‘Ivybridge Town Council has now taken legal advice and is opposed to any variation or removal of the TRO. The council reserves the right to take legal action to ensure that the current order remains in place.’