COUNCILLORS have approved the Teignbridge Local Plan which sets out planning policy and allocates land for development across Teignbridge until 2040.

Members formally adopted the plan at the council’s annual meeting.

Only a third of local authorities across the country have an up-to-date Local Plan and the council says its adoption represents a ‘major achievement’.

With the plan now in place, Teignbridge is ‘well placed to take a proactive, plan-led approach to growth, meeting the social, economic and environmental needs of the district’.

This will lead to the development of new homes for local people, new opportunities for businesses and job growth, and new infrastructure delivered in the right places at the right times to serve our residents.

The adoption of the Local Plan provides stability for development at a time when local government reform and higher housing targets are creating uncertainty.

Teignbridge’s Local Plan has been under preparation since 2018 and has involved seven rounds of public consultation, working with local members, town and parish councils, community groups, developers, statutory bodies, and neighbouring authorities.

Under the Local Plan, Teignbridge’s housing need forward requirement will be set at 720 homes per year for five years.

Without the plan in place, Teignbridge’s housing requirement would have been determined by the ‘standard method’ formula, which currently requires 1,088 homes per year.

The plan requires 20-30per cent of new housing to be allocated as affordable homes, with a large amount of these to be provided at social rent.

Dawlish district and county councillor Rosie Dawons has welcomed the adoption which, she pointed out, does not include any more housing sites in Dawlish.

She said: ‘As Dawlish councillors, we challenged hard to get potential sites removed for the parish because our population has grown so much that we need years to build on our current incredible community spirit, to push for infrastructure catch up and to preserve our identity.’

The plan also includes a range of environmental measures.

Developers will need to adhere to new net zero carbon standards, meet stringent requirements for biodiversity net gain, take a positive approach to low carbon energy generation and storage and promote active travel.

Executive Member for Planning Cllr Gary Taylor said: ‘The 2020-2040 Local Plan will form the principal document for the determination of planning proposals within our district outside of the Dartmoor National Park.

‘Furthermore, it will meet the social, economic and environmental needs of the district – a platform of development stability while local government reforms and even higher housing targets swirl around us.’

The adoption of the Teignbridge Local Plan 2020-2040 comes two months after government inspectors deemed it to be ‘legally sound’.