Plans for 61 new homes on the edge of Exeter have been unanimously refused due to the impact they would have on an area of important landscape setting and the ridgeline of the city.

Waddeton Park Ltd’s outline planning application for 61 homes on land at Home Farm, known as ‘Higher Field’, sitting between Church Hill and Park Lane, in Pinhoe, went before Exeter City Council’s planning committee on Monday night (June 28).

Councillors unanimously agreed with the recommendation of officers and turned down the application, saying that the scheme wasn’t so acceptable and outstanding that it was worth losing the iconic view.

Councillors had heard that while the development would make a positive contribution to the council’s five year housing land supply and the scheme will provide 21 affordable houses, their planning assessment had concluded that the benefits of the proposed housing does not outweigh the harmful impact the development would have on the landscape character of the area.

Objecting to the scheme, resident Michael Bennett said that the proposed site forms the beginning of Exeter’s northern hills and is an important part of the city’s landscape features.

He added: “To lose the amenity would be devastating for the community that has already lost so much space. This iconic field is visible from so many points of the green circle.”

Cllr David Harvey, who represents Pinhoe, also called for it to be refused, saying: “To call this a sustainable development is simply unbelievable. It is not sustainable and I am pleased with the recommendation of refusal.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Emma Morse, added: “This does have an impact on the view and it is very clear where the impact on the ridgeline is, and I don’t think this application is providing anything that acceptable that you would give up that ridgeline for.”

Recommending refusal, the report of the planning officers added: “The fact that housing on site is visible within an area of land does not necessarily make a development unacceptable, however it is the impact the built development would have on the overall landscape character of the area, which remains the fundamental consideration as to whether the scheme is acceptable.

“The proposal would have an adverse impact on the character and distinctiveness of the area by placing development on the skyline, thereby causing significant harm to the landscape setting of the city.

“This is the planning balance, which needs to be considered, taking into account all material planning considerations and in particular the council’s lack of a five year housing supply as the ‘tilted balance’ required by the NPPF places great weight on the approving of sustainable housing development unless there are clear reasons for refusal.”

It added: “The fundamental consideration therefore is whether the provision of 61 dwellings (including 21 affordable units), provision of on-site open space, and mitigation measures put forward in support of the application take precedence against the detrimental impact the development would have on the landscape character of the area both locally and from a wider landscape setting.

“The assessment is clearly a balanced one, however it is considered that the landscape quality of this valued site and the harmful intrusive visual impact created by the proposed housing development should be afforded greater weight, in this instance.”

On the grounds that the development would have a significant impact on the rural character of the area and landscape setting of the city by developing and urbanising a prominent ridgeline that will be visible from surrounding parts of the city and beyond, and because it will have a significant impact on the rural character of the Beacon Hill ridge and open undeveloped land forming part of the slopes above Pinhoe, which will detract from the landscape setting of this part of the city, councillors unanimously refused the scheme.