PLANS to convert the historic Dartmoor Union Inn in Holbeton into a ‘residential enclave’ have been met with objections from the parish council and residents of the village.

The plans are to convert the public house into a mixture of five flats, with one and two bedrooms, along with the creation of two new residential units with three bedrooms each.

The owners of the pub claim that the pub cannot continue in the hospitality trade, with the design and access statement stating: ‘The Mildmay Colours has established itself as the dominant hospitality venue in the village, catering predominantly to local clientele.

‘The financial records of the public house demonstrate that the Dartmoor Union is simply not a sustainable hospitality facility.

‘Its demise has been prompted by the competition from the adjacent pub and restaurant, The Mildmay Colours.

‘This is despite considerable resources being spent on advertising and promotion.’

South Hams Council have now received 14 comments about the application, with 13 letters of objection and one of support.

Holbeton Parish Council objected to the plans on the grounds of it being a change of use from hospitality to residential.

While James Kershaw, environmental health officer at South Hams Council objected to the development on the grounds of the potential for contamination in the village, saying: ‘There is insufficient information to demonstrate that the risk of pollution and/or harm is acceptable.’

And Devon County Council has stated it would need an education contribution to ‘mitigate the impact of the development’.

Mr M Harris from Holbeton wrote to South Hams Council: ‘The proposed change of use for the Dartmoor Union will be the loss of an important local amenity in the village.

‘There would be major disruption to the existing occupants of Union Cottages for a considerable time during construction, and on completion the problems of car parking would inevitably spill out into the rest of the village.

‘The increased traffic leaving through the very narrow entrance and blind exit could cause a risk of an accident.’

Mr McNamara from Holbeton said: ‘This application will remove a source of much needed local employment in the area.

‘The previous management was proving to be successful until unfortunate and serious illness during 2015.

‘The figures provided by the applicant relate to a period some time prior to this period, whilst the other pub referenced in this application has been reduced in size to little more than a bar.

Mr McNamara continued: ‘The owners of this pub have made it impossible for anyone to succeed. The cost of the lease is enormous. It is felt that this is a deliberate ploy to ensure that the business fails.

‘While not subscribing to the ‘NIMBY’ attitude, I feel deeply that the village cannot sustain this size of development. We have one bus a day, secondary sewage, which very often collapses under the present load.

‘Broadband is very slow and mobile phones very rarely work at all.

‘The weight of traffic into and out of the village damages the mains water supply, which is regularly bursting.’

The other comments and objections received raise similar concerns, lamenting the loss of a community meeting space, and questioning whether the village’s infrastructure can cope with further development.

Holbeton Parish Council discussed parishioners concerns at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 12 - details of which weren’t available at the time of going to press.