21 August 2012 Last updated at 06:48 ET

Teignbridge council unveils plan for 1,500 homes

Critics said the move would ruin a major green space in the Abbotskerswell area

Plans to build 1,500 homes in fields in south Devon have been put forward by a council.

Teignbridge District Council has proposed the development on fields at Wolborough, near Abbotskerswell, over the next 20 years to cope with a growing population.

Critics said the move would ruin a major green space in the area.

The council said the development had been reduced from an original proposed size of about 1,800 homes.

The council revised its plan after research showed that its original figures for new homes were inflated compared to numbers from the Office for National Statistics.

'No infrastructure'

A need for about 14,800 houses to be built over 20 years in the district has been revised to about 12,400.

Opponents said they would prefer the figure to be about 10,000.

However, Kelvyn Shantry, a Conservative district councillor who lives in the Wolborough area, said he was "very frustrated and disappointed" at the area's proposals, even though the number had been reduced.

He said: "We're not nimbys. There are over 600 homes planned around the area that we don't have a problem with.

"But there's no infrastructure there right now. They'll have to make a new road to get to it."

The council said it had listened to local people while revising the plan, but added that the homes needed to be built somewhere.

The Conservative leader of the council, Jeremy Christophers, added that people needed to realise it was not a case of the homes being all built at the same time.

He said: "No-one is going to wake up, pull their curtains and find a skyscraper has been put up overnight.

"We need to put this into context. It's 20-year plan, and I think it gives a great deal of hope for young families in the district."