Salcombe beauty spot homes plans withheld from councillors

The before and after draft plans showing the houses on the left and circles on the right

A council has been forced to reveal plans for two luxury homes on a beauty spot which were withheld from councillors during a meeting.

South Hams District Council in Devon cited "commercial confidentiality" in keeping the Salcombe plans under wraps, but a watchdog rejected that excuse.

Environment group South Hams Society urged "more transparency in planning matters" by the council.

The authority said it "did not want the meeting to be sidetracked".

Drawings of the homes had formed part of draft plans for the hill-top development off Shadycombe Road in the seaside town.

The two houses are planned for this field overlooking Salcombe with the rest of the development lower down the hillside

But a council officer told architects in an email on 11 October last year that "at this point" the scale of the four-bed detached houses should be left out of the plans.

He said the scale "concerns me" and added: "It would be a mistake to present this detail."

In an email response, the architect sent back revised plans with circles instead of drawings of the houses "without being too prescriptive on their size and design".

The revised plans were then put before a planning workshop of councillors and local businesses on 17 October.

The council initially refused South Hams Society's request to reveal the original plans.

However, it appealed and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ordered the authority to divulge the omitted details.

This is how the revised plans were presented to members of the workshop

In a statement, the council said it had "sought legal advice" and "we were of the view that we were entitled to withhold them".

"It was clear to us that the plans as they were, would not be recommended for approval by the council.

"We felt that the size of the properties on the plan were inappropriate.

The workshop had been arranged to talk to key stakeholders about a masterplan for the whole area and we did not want the meeting to be side-tracked by a proposal which we were sure would never come forward in its current state."

It added it now "fully respects" the demand to release the full plans.

Didi Alayli, chair of the society, said she hoped the ICO ruling "will lead to real change" in how council planners deal with draft plans.

"The huge profits to be made by landowners and developers in our beautiful area make it all the more important that our planning system is fit for purpose and we are not there yet," she said.

It is understood landowner Jason Smith, who has not yet responded to a BBC request for comment, has not taken the proposals forward.