More than 160 attend The Crown Estate’s exhibition

Residents at Millwey Rise got the chance to comment on plans to develop land near their homes as part of Axminster’s eastern urban extension.

The consultation, on Friday (February 8), was organised by The Crown Estate, which owns the ground on which many of the proposed 850 new houses and employment space will be created, along with a large section of the new relief road.

The site forms part of the Axminster Masterplan recently approved by East Devon District Council.

The Crown Estate is looking to provide 441 homes - 25 per cent of which would be affordable - the central section of the proposed bypass, as well as space for new offices, shops and community facilities.

More than 160 residents attended the consultation at the community centre where they were asked to give their views on the plans in a questionnaire. The results will be published shortly.

Millwey’s district councillor Ian Hall said : “I was very impressed with the footfall and how well the event was presented.”

Millwey district councillor Ian Hall: “I was very impressed with the footfall and how well the event was presented.”

“I would like to thank all the people who managed to attend the event and a thank you to the representatives from The Crown Estate who were very much engaged with the good folk of our Town.

“Engagement with developers is so incredibly important - so we can together achieve the best outcome for our community.”

Steve Melligan, strategic land portfolio manager for The Crown Estate, said: “It was encouraging to see so many local people attend the event to share their thoughts on our proposals. Events like these are a great opportunity to listen to residents’ feedback and understand local issues. We will use this feedback to inform our plans for the site before submitting a planning application later this year.”