Save the Old School Field
Update January 2024
January 2024
DCC have a preferred bidder for the field but are not in a position to advise who this is due to contract negotiations. It is understood that planning permission will be applied for prior to a final sale. There have been land and geotechnical surveyors in the field.
September 2023
The Playing Field has been put up for sale as Development Land via DCC's agents NPS Group. The closing date for bids is 17th October 2023. The land is to be sold with no planning permission but has a Planning Pre-Application in place and it is expected planning would be sought by the purchaser of the land. We will await the details of any planning applications.
July 2023
The ACV application has been turned down by SHDC on the basis the field isn't currently used for the community and therefore cannot be assessed for future value which we are unable to dispute as there is no appeal. We presented the nearly 500 signature petition to a DCC meeting of cabinet but have now been told that the field will be sold with a planning pre application, which is generally not available for public scrutiny. We await a date for the sale process to commence, but it will be the responsibility of any purchaser to apply for planning permission, if they so desire. Finally, we await the issue of the Loddiswell Neighbourhood Plan which will give the village the opportunity to express their views on any future development of the field. We as WAL do know the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan does not recommend further housing for Loddiswell and the field is in fact shown as being allocated for open space and recreation use in the JLP. We would like the field to be designated a Local Green Space for it's protection.
Overview:
The old school field is in the heart of Loddiswell, it has been left largely untouched since the primary school moved to its new site on the edge of the village in 2018. It would not have been ploughed or sprayed for more than 50 years, so is unimproved grassland. Over the last 5 years it has evolved into a tussocky meadow, which is a great habitat for voles and other small mammals and an ideal hunting ground for barn owls one of which has been seen hunting there. It also has a rich diversity of plants and is home to dormice, hedgehogs and slow worms. Greater and lesser horseshoe and barbastelle bats have been recorded foraging there too. It is the last remaining green space in the village.
In 2018 DCC put in a planning application for 25 houses, this was refused (there were many objections). In Dec 2020 they applied for outline planning permission for 17 houses which was later withdrawn (probably due to many objections again). Since then it has gone quiet and for the last year Wild About Loddiswell have had aspirations to keep this as a green space for the village and to plant a community orchard and create a nature reserve - a peaceful place, accessible to all including the elderly and less able allowing them to connect with nature, which is so important for people’s health and well-being.
We have discovered that Devon County Council are to sell the field to a developer with a supporting pre-planning application for 10 houses. We are now in a race against time to persuade Devon County Council not to sell it for development and to allow it to be kept as a green space for the community of Loddiswell.
A petition was created and achieved nearly 500 signatures, This was presented to DCC on 12th April 2023. The response from DCC was as follows:
Dear Ms Montague, Mr Comelio,
Thank you for the petition presented to DCC Cabinet on 12th April 2023 in relation to the old school field in Loddiswell.
I make the following response to the petition and in doing so provide some pertinent background information.
Prior to 2017 the site was used as a school playing field for the old Loddiswell Primary School and members of the public would not have had the right to access the land. As a school playing field the site would have been maintained as a site suitable for primary school sport activities.
DCC funded and built the new school and playing field in May 2017. It was agreed with the District Council (as the planning authority) that the (former) school playing field would be developed for housing and on this basis brought forward the land for development, widely consulting and adjusting proposals to meet the feedback from local residents, the Parish Council and the Planning Authority. As part of this process in 2016 DCC obtained the relevant approval from the Department of Education to dispose of the former school field site.
Following discussions with the District Council and the Parish Council, a revised pre-planning application was submitted to the District Council last year which reduced the number of houses proposed on the site from 25 to 10 which has enabled woodland open space to be retained to the south of the site and for accessibility to this area to be enhanced.
With the support and guidance of the County Ecologist the grass and hedges surrounding the site have been cut during winter 2021/2022 to date in readiness for disposal and development (the hedges at the request of a number of residents surrounding the site).
DCCs investment in a new school for Loddiswell was predicated on the sale of the old school field – a new school for the community would not have now been a reality if this funding approach had not been put in place. I am clear that it would not be appropriate for DCC, the community (and other interested members of the public), the District Council and the Parish Council to renege on this approach and DCC will proceed with the disposal of the site.
Regards,
Melanie Wellard
Strategic Business Services Manager
Clearly we do not find this an acceptable position and will continue to push with our campaign.
The South Hams Society have been providing an overview of the position for development from their view of the local area and various information sources. Their latest report is available here:
We had also applied to have the field designated as an Asset of Community Value by South Hams District Council. This has now been rejected, predominantly due to the fact we are currently not using the field, which is difficult as DCC have said they do not grant access to the public. Again we are very disappointed in this outcome but will look to other options..
Below is the response to our ACV application:
We would also encourage you to write to local councillors and our MP Anthony Mangnall:
Loddiswell Parish Council: loddiswellparishclerk@gmail.com (Fiona Stace)
Cllr Lee Bonham (SHDC): cllr.lee.bonham@southhams.gov.uk
Cllr Rufus Gilbert (DCC): rufus.gilbert@devon.gov.uk
Anthony Mangnall (MP): anthony.mangnall.mp@parliament.uk
The links below are to ecology reports relating to the field
South Hams Society Support
WAL have received a copy of an excellent letter in our support from the South Hams Society. The letter has been sent to: the Assistant Director for Planning at SHDC Alistair Wagstaff, Loddiswell Parish Council, Cllr Rufus Gilbert, Cllr Julian Brazil and MP Anthony Mangnall.
A copy of the letter can be found below:
Dear Anthony Mangnall
Wild about Loddiswell is a community conservation group set up a year ago to enhance the biodiversity of the grass verges and green spaces in and around the village. We encourage local residents to engage with nature, garden in a wildlife friendly way and to live more sustainably. We work alongside the Devon Wildlife Trust’s Avon Valley Project and have the support of our Parish Council.
The old school field was the playing field for Loddiswell Primary School before it moved to its new site in 2018. It is a place close to the hearts of many in the village – some will remember playing there themselves as children and participating in school sports days, others have children who attended the school and helped to plant the trees in the small copse there, some are the children who planted the trees, now grown up.
Having not been ploughed or sprayed for over 50 years the field is a rare patch of unimproved grassland with a rich diversity of wildflowers. It has resident hazel dormice, hedgehogs and slow worms, a barn owl has been seen hunting there and greater and lesser horseshoe and barbastelle bats have been recorded foraging there – these are all rare and endangered species. It is the last remaining green space in the heart of the village. Devon County Council has put in a couple of planning applications to build houses there, one was refused and the other withdrawn, the most recent in December 2020.
Over the last year Wild about Loddiswell has had aspirations to keep this field for the protection of the wildlife and the enjoyment of the local community. We would like to plant a community orchard and create a nature reserve. It would be a place accessible to all, including the elderly and less able, providing them with a peaceful green space to enjoy and connect with nature which is widely acknowledged to be beneficial to individual’s health and well-being. Although the community has the playing fields on the outskirts of the village and is of course surrounded by lovely countryside, these are not easily accessible to the elderly and infirm, especially as our village is very hilly. A consultation with residents conducted early last year resulted in an overwhelming response in favour of keeping the field as a green space and against building houses there.
At the Parish Council meeting earlier this month we learned that DCC is planning to sell the field to a developer with a supporting pre-planning application for 10 houses, it will be put out to tender shortly. There is already too much pressure on the road and sewage infrastructure and local people say that they do not want more housing.
Wild about Loddiswell have started a petition asking DCC not to sell the field for housing to a developer but to allow the village of Loddiswell to keep it as a green space. Between the online petition and the paper version in the village shop we have over 400 signatures so far.
We have recently submitted an application to SHDC to register the field as a community asset.
In the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan I have not found any specific mention of a housing requirement for Loddiswell. In recent years the Woolston Fields Estate has been built (some 70 houses) and Redwood Drive (6 houses).
A couple of items of relevance I found in the JLP were:
SO10 1. “Delivering homes only in areas where there is an identified local need”
And: 6.102: “An important element of a sustainable community is the accessibility of green open space and play spaces due to their substantial health and well being benefits. Spaces should be in close proximity to where people live and a good level of provision should be provided across the plan area.”
If there is anything you can do to help us in our cause, we would be most grateful, bearing in mind especially these statements from the Governments’ 25 year Environment Plan:
“We want to improve the UK’s air and water quality and protect our many threatened plants, tree and wildlife species.”
And
“Making sure there are high quality accessible natural spaces close to where people live and work, particularly in urban areas and encouraging more people to spend time in them to benefit their health and well-being”
I hope you will agree that it would be inappropriate to impose another unwanted housing development on the village of Loddiswell in the old school field with its rare and endangered resident wildlife which should be protected at all costs and that it would be far more beneficial to the to the community as a green space, accessible to all.
I hope we can look forward to receiving your support.
Dear Anthony,
I hope this finds you well and with a spring in your step.
I’m writing in support of a campaign arising from Loddiswell to save an old school playing field from housing development.
The site lies in the heart of the village, an area of unimproved grassland abundant in protected species with historical recordings of dormice, greater and lesser horseshoe bats, retiles, Red List songbirds and countless invertebrates.
Devon County Council currently owns the land but appears to have made overtures to a preferred bidder via a pre-application submission for the development of ten houses. This information surfaced during a recent parish council meeting much to the concern of parishioners.
Villagers have expressed a keen interest in adopting the site for the community for some time now and feel agitated that these manoeuvres were happening out of the public eye, understandably creating a veil of suspicion.
The field has enormous potential as an educational resource for the local primary school while providing a focal point for the wider community. Therefore, it’s essential that the villagers of Loddiswell and the campaign be included in any further discussions.
These spaces help maintain the character and heritage of our villages. In this particular case, the field is already encompassed by housing estates making it particularly valuable as a green corridor and refuge for the village’s wildlife as well as helping lessen the impact of the urbanscape.
Our towns and villages are abutted by lots of “zombie fields”, sadly denuded of life by modern intensive farming methods, so earmarking a patch of land so prominently placed that has escaped such rigours seems doubly sad.
I know you feel passionately about the impacts of inappropriate development, having stood with you below the sad echo that is now Lock’s Hill and having applauded your address on the subject to your fellow MPs in the debating chamber.
Can I respectfully ask that you keep a close eye on the proceedings at Loddiswell and help reassure the villagers that their voices will be heard and all avenues explored.
Below are a couple of letters written by supporters to our MP Anthony Mangnall, they have kindly allowed us to share them.