New town and hundreds of homes in East Devon plan

East Devon District Council's planning committee will discuss the proposals for new homes on 14 December

A new town could be built in East Devon as the district identifies potential locations for hundreds of new homes.

The draft plan could shape the area until 2040 and suggests 335 homes could be built in Axminster and about 455 in Exmouth.

There could be hundreds more homes in Honiton, Seaton and Ottery St Mary.

East Devon District Council's planning committee will discuss the proposals on 14 December.

The council said its preferred strategy could see a new town on the western side of East Devon with 2,500 homes in the next 20 years, that would ultimately grow to 8,000 properties.

However, councillor Paul Arnott, leader of East Devon District Council, said they were looking to avoid creating new towns.

"What we want to do as much as possible is to put smaller groups of housing on existing settlements and try to hold off on the possibility of developing an entirely new community and that's why we are starting this discussion at the really early stage," he said.

The map shows the preferred distribution of future housing developments in the East Devon area

The council said it "appreciated" some of the proposals were controversial and would "cause concern" to communities but said the plans could change after consultation.

Residents have been asked not to submit comments at this stage and to wait until the final draft plan has been published.

East Devon District Council said the government has stipulated it must deliver 918 new homes each year meaning the new local plan needs to identify land for more than 6,900 additional homes.

The plan shows the council's ambition for all new homes to be eco properties.