Town's status 'risked by housebuilding'

RESIDENTS FEAR OVERDEVELOPMENT MAY AFFECT WORLD HERITAGE SITE STATUS

- By ALISON STEPHENSON

PLANS for major housebuilding in Tavistock have raised fears that the town could suffer the same fate as Liverpool and lose its World Heritage Site status from overdevelopment.

Campaign groups have been set up to fight proposals coming forward which could swell the number of properties in the market town by more than 1,000 if they were all approved.

Opponents say there has been a wealth of interest from speculative developers since it became clear that West Devon Borough Council does not have a five-year land supply to meet new government targets on housebuilding.

They and local councillors fear that hundreds more cars using the same road network will bring the town to a standstill and impact the heritage designation.

Liverpool was stripped of its World Heritage Site status in 2021 after a Unesco committee found developments, including Everton Football Club's new stadium, threatened the value of the city’s waterfront.

Closer to home, at Hayle in Cornwall, proposals for a major harbour redevelopment scheme including hundreds of new homes had to be revised over concerns that it would impact World Heritage status.