All is not lost for a scheme to develop the area to the south of Ivybridge, despite it not being included in the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan.

And a major new traffic study is to be commissioned in the town, which will enable planners to gauge the impact of future development, explore how best to free up Ivybridge’s choked streets and deal with air quality issues.

Ivybridge Town Council has concluded expansion south of the A38 is the best option for the future sustainability of the South Hams’ biggest settlement, and its residents’ quality of life.

However, the decision came too late for the area to be included in the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan.

Now, following a wide ranging meeting between local district and county councillors, representatives of Ivybridge and Ugborough councils and neighbourhood plan groups, officers of Devon County, South Hams District and Plymouth City Councils and Highways England staff, the southern expansion looks likely to be put forward for inclusion in the JLP at the earliest opportunity. This would involve making development of the site a priority consideration for a review, to take place within five years.

But there were also warnings that more work had to be done to prove the site was financially viable before it could be included in the JLP.

Including the site in the JLP at this very late stage would put the plan’s progress back by six months as a new consultation would be needed, the meeting was told. The vast document has now been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, which will examine it in detail in the coming months.

At last week’s meeting of Ivybridge Town Council Ivybridge clerk Lesley Hughes referred to the earlier meeting and said that while all was not lost for the scheme, progress was "very slow".

The get-together, at the end of July had the key objective of working out Ivybridge’s response to the JLP. The town’s council and neighbourhood plan group were represented by independent planning consultant Lee Bray, who has been retained by Ivybridge Town Council to support the creation of the neighbourhood plan, and the town’s contributions and responses to the JLP.

Representatives from Ugborough were present as they have a keen interest in development around Ivybridge, much of which is or will be outside the town’s existing boundaries.

Lee Bray told the meeting development of the area south of the A38 had the potential to deliver a link road that would alleviate traffic problems in the town centre and improve sustainability, a key planning consideration. A significant amount of work has already gone into the proposed scheme, with several landowners on board.

At this stage, the proposals include 300 homes, up to 10 square kilometres of employment land, a ’SUDS’ - sustainable drainage system, and cycling and highway links. The site could one day provide a home for the town’s long-awaited new health centre and hotel.

Proponents of the scheme believe it is time to put a stop to Ivybridge’s expansion to the east and west, with homes being built further and further away from the traditional town centre.

Enquiring about the traffic study, Mrs Hughes wrote to Devon County Council demanding action on Ivybridge’s air quality problems, and noting that "our town is already the size that Sherford will be yet its road system has just been tacked onto for decades without any significant change".

Replying, Devon County Council said the traffic study would take extensive recordings of traffic data around the town and A38, survey use of on and off street parking and use of the railway station, look at accident and journey time data and pull in information from the 2011 Census and DCC research. The county council said the study would allow different options to be explored.

Results are expected in the spring.