THREE detached bungalows could soon be built in Bradworthy if a planning application is met with the approval of Torridge District Council’s planning department.

The application was made by Messrs Bromell and concerns land adjacent to Langdon Road in the village.

If approved, it would see the construction of one two-bedroom bungalow, one three-bedroom bungalow and one four-bedroom bungalow built on the site.

It is adjacent to land which had planning permission for up to 38 dwellings, and while the land had approval for properties within that land, it was used as a site compound and the previous developers of the site chose not to bring forward the land to be built on – with its present owners seeking instead to build the three bungalows on it instead.

In their submission, the applicants, who were the land owners of the adjacent development, stated that the site was not developed by choice of the developer as opposed to representing a ‘sub-division’ of the site in order to avoid the requirement to offer a number of dwellings as affordable tenure such as social rent or shared ownership.

The adjacent site’s application attracted controversy at the time owing to the applicant stating that any affordable housing on the site would make the development unviable – leading to a furious response from Bradworthy Parish Council which had objected to both the development and the claims that affordable dwellings would make it unviable.

In the end, the Torridge District Council’s valuer said that while, when combined with other required off site financial contributions, a requirement for 30 per cent of the site as affordable dwellings would make it unviable, the inclusion of seven dwellings, or 18 per cent would not be unviable.

The developer’s planning agent told Torridge District Council: “The scheme has been developed in response to officer feedback and clients’ aspirations for the site and proposes a careful approach to development at the edge of the settlement. The proposal represents a modest form of development within the defined settlement boundary of Bradworthy, designed to respond appropriately to its gateway position and surrounding character.

“It is also relevant to note that this parcel of land formed part of the wider approved residential scheme, where it was used as a site compound rather than being developed for housing.

“The developer responsible for delivering that scheme chose not to bring this part of the site forward for residential development and, as such, no housing delivery has occurred on this land under the extant permission.

“The current proposal therefore does not represent the subdivision of a larger scheme to avoid affordable housing requirements but instead brings forward a previously undeveloped and unused parcel of land, constrained by its own physical and technical characteristics, for independent assessment on its own merits.”

However, pre-application advice in 2024 concerning the site stated that it should be considered as one development under the same ownership and thus would require an affordable housing contribution.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

The plans are viewable on the Torridge District Council planning portal using reference 1/0252/2026/FUL.