More details revealed for first phase of controversial Yelland power station site homes plan

Detailed plans for the first phase of the controversial 250 homes scheme at the former Yelland Power Station have been published.

North Devon Council has already granted outline planning permission and now the ‘reserved matters’ stage of the application has revealed in more detail the plans for 20 detached homes, a cafe and cycle hire facilities as part of a ‘social hub’.

Work on the 31-hectare development next to the Tarka Trail is expected to be carried out in nine phases over 13 years and will include space for employment, retail, food and drink sales and community use.

The first stage will be a mix of three and four-bedroom properties with balconies and living space on the first floor to make the most of the waterfront views.

Together with the social hub, it will take up 1.6 hectares of the site.

A three-metre wide cycleway and footpath will be separate to the access road and a bus stop is proposed for the junction with the B3233.

Each property will have three or four parking spaces and an electric vehicle charging point, planning documents say.

Elements of the scheme have been redesigned following advice from planning officers, including pitched roofs instead of flat roofs.

The application is by Yelland Quay Ltd.

Outline permission for regeneration of the former power station on the Taw and Torridge Estuary between Fremington and Instow was granted by a planning inspector on appeal in 2022.

The land was earmarked in the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan for development, but North Devon Council refused the application after hundreds of local people objected about a lack of affordable housing and impact on the landscape and infrastructure.

North Devon councillors will consider the scheme’s first phase at a future date.