A six-week consultation on a neighbourhood plan which will help shape developments in Luppitt and the surrounding parish has been launched.

The area’s parish council has now submitted its neighbourhood plan to East Devon District Council (EDDC), giving residents who live, work and do business in the Luppitt parish until Friday, 6 May, to have their say on the document.

Once adopted, the plan will help decide the future of the Luppitt parish in terms of development and planning applications.

After the consultation is over, the plan will go before an independent examiner, who will inspect the plan against a series of ‘basic conditions’ it must meet. If this is the case, it will proceed as soon as possible to a local community referendum. 

Then, if more than half of the electors in the local area vote in favour of the plan, it will become part of the statutory development plan for East Devon.

The Luppitt Neighbourhood Plan area falls entirely within the highly protected landscape of the Blackdown Hills Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and includes the small village of Luppitt, and several hamlets and scattered farms, with much of the area in agricultural use. 

The parish has a limited range of facilities and a wealth of natural and heritage assets. 

The Luppitt Neighbourhood Plan aims to achieve ‘a thriving, balanced community whilst protecting the unique character of the parish and its valuable rural landscape’.

In doing so, it seeks to address and balance many competing demands, including the need for local employment opportunities, supply of affordable homes/accommodation for its residents at different stages in life; a sustainable tourism offer for visitors, a viable farming community, and the preservation and enhancement of the natural, tranquil and built environment for all - including future generations. 

Councillor Dan Ledger, EDDC’s portfolio holder for strategic development, said:

It’s fantastic to see that residents in the Luppitt parish are taking more control on how they wish to see their area grow for the next ten years. Neighbourhood plans are so important and help us understand what communities need and want to help them flourish.

Congratulations really needs to be given to all of the volunteers for getting the plan through to this point. Without their passion and commitment to their own community this feat would never have been achieved.

Hard copies of the plan can also be viewed at Honiton Library as well as Luppitt village hall. 

If necessary, hard copies are also available on request by post or to view at EDDC’s offices at Blackdown House, in Honiton.

Any representations received will be made available on our website, with copies also sent to the examiner to consider.

The full set of consultation documents, including comments form, are available on EDDC’s website.

Anyone wishing to comment should send their comments by email to planningpolicy@eastdevon.gov.uk, or by post to: Angela King, Planning Policy Section, East Devon District Council, Blackdown House, Border Road, Honiton, EX14 1EJ.