The Dairy Crest / Brunel Park site – Time to have your say
It’s official – now it’s your turn to share a view.
New plans of Brunel Park for the long derelict Dairy Crest site are on the South Hams planning portal. Public consultation is open until March 12. The reference is 3335/25/OPA. you can visit and search the portal with that reference here.
Fastglobe, the Essex company which acquired the site and dashing the hopes of the Atmos campaigners, says its new plans will provide homes, jobs and open space.
The new scheme includes 125 apartments, so it’s increased the density of development, and these will be on the north end of the site nearest the entrance from the railway station.
Agent for the scheme Craig Pallett of BDA Architecture, Essex, says it’s not yet possible to say how many affordable homes there will be – planning policy requires a minimum of 30% – until Vacant Building Credits have been decided. The scheme included a 45 room hotel parallel to the railway line, where the vacant office and car parking are.
It could have been so very different.
The Brunel Park Plan
Key to the plans is the revamp of the Brunel pumping house, a Grade Two listed building, incorporating the chimney. A pedestrian plaza and commercial units are also in the mix.
The supporters of the Atmos community scheme (see Pulse articles here) are still mourning its demise. Ruth Ben-Tovim said that it has now been six years since the site was sold by Saputo to Fastglobe, rather than, as they expected, the Totnes development group. “That’s a total of 2192 wasted days. It could have been so very different.”
Fastglobe’s first scheme for the site was rejected and a second one won on appeal, but came with so many planning conditions, many Atmos campaigners said that Fastglobe would never build it.
It seems they’re right in one aspect – this third scheme is quite different. It may well win the approval of townspeople who just want to see the eyesore site cleared and developed.
Objections, suggestions, plaudits – the planners who will decide are keen to hear from everyone.
This is an outline application and so matters of design and final layout will be thrashed out once – if – the basic scheme is given the go ahead.