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Tiverton Civic Society

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Latest news

The Slurry Lagoon Application 25/00961/MFUL has been refused by MDDC. Please see further details on the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page.
Tara Fraser has arranged an excellent and wide ranging series of presentations for our Society in 2026. starting on March 10th. These will soon be listed on this website and sent to all members
There were 536 visits to this website in January 2026, by far the greatest number being related to the Slurry Lagoon Application 25/00961/MFUL.
2025 was, with 2381 views, the the most popular year for this website since 2020, which was the peak of the Covid pandemic, when we organized many online zoom meetings.
Visit the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page for details of a major new Planning Application, 25/01652/MOUT for Area B of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension.
Tiverton Town Council Planning Committee discussed the Slurry Lagoon Planning Application 25/00861,MFUL at their meeting in Tiverton Town Hall on Monday, November 24th at 6 pm. They voted not to support the application.
The Planning Reference Number for the Slurry Lagoon off Newte’s Hill has been changed by MDDC! It is now 25/00961/MFUL and the previous number is now inaccessible, although all previously submitted representations for 25/00961/FULL have been transferred.
For information about Planning Application 25/00961/FULL (Now 25/00961/MFUL) for the construction and operation of a Slurry Lagoon off Newte’s Hill, Tiverton, please refer to the Latest News Page, followed by the more recent post on the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page. The opposition to this proposal is very strong!
Average Mid Devon house prices dropped by 2.3% in July, an annual rate of decline of 27.6%. Reasons include reduced demand because of the large number of new homes built recently which have saturated the market, the sale of second homes because of a sharp rise in council tax, concerns about the rise in stamp duty, and continued high mortgage rates. Builders are facing large increases in the costs of materials and skilled labour shortages, the cost of constructing homes in England having risen by 17% between 2022 and 2024 while sales prices rose by just 1%, so it is not surprising that the pace of building has dropped considerably. Construction work on new homes in Mid Devon fell by more than a third in the year to April this year.
‘In the first quarter of 2025 80% of the number of new homes subject to appeal won consent compared to an average of 57% over the past decade’ (Savills). This is an indication that the government, ambitious to increase residential completions, is pressurising the Planning Inspectorate!
Following the recent Planning Inquiry the Tidcombe Appeal 24/00045/MOUT by Tidcombe Holdings LLP against MDDC’s original decision to refuse this application has been allowed by the Planning Inspector. Please see the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page for full details.
Please see the Events Page for information about current and forthcoming events at the Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life.
See the Recent News Page for Daniel Defoe’s description of his visit to Tiverton three hundred years ago. (He was, of course, the author of Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders).
The much delayed 23/00394/MARM– Reserved Matters Application by Redrow for 122 dwellings on Land East of Tiverton, South of Blundell’s Road was granted Planning Permission by the MDDC Planning Committee on February 12th.
The Redetermination Appeal for Hartnoll Farm Application 21/01576/MOUT has been dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate who fully supported MDDC’s predicted 5 Year Housing Supply. This judgement, posted on 27th January, will not only stop further development outside the settlement boundary, but it could also be a major determining factor in the result of the recently submitted Tidcombe Appeal 24/00045/MOUT . Please see the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page for further information.
The full effect on Mid Devon District Council of the proposed government changes to local government boundaries, which would include the amalgamation of many local councils into regional authorities, have yet to be determined. Mid Devon support a three tier solution with Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge forming a single Authority, but no decisions have, as yet been made.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, still being finalised by Parliament, sets out to ‘modernise’ the planning approval process for large housing developments by allowing applications that comply with local development plans to by pass local planning committee approval. The plan is that, in future, these decisions would be taken at a regional level across local government boundaries. As this would remove the involvement of local community groups in the decision-making process, it is already triggering some furious reactions! CPRE have already mounted a major campaign against these changes. In October 2025 the Bill has yet to be finalized with the government considering further changes to speed up the delivery of new housing.
Please see the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page for details of a controversial planning application,24/01594/MFUL, by McCarthy and Stone to build a large care home, retirement living accommodation, and other buildings on former playing fields designated in the Mid Devon Local Plan for the future expansion of Tiverton High School.
The Devon County Council Greenway Inert Landfill application DCC/4358/2023 was considered by the Development Management Committee at their meeting at 2.15pm on 23 October 2024, and it was unanimously refused Planning Permission. A victory for common sense! Please see the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page for further details.
A new Events Page has been opened in order to accommodate the requests from TCS members and others for us to advertise concerts, plays and other events. These have previously been displayed on the Recent News Page.
Please see the Recent News Page for information about Old Blundell’s.
The present Government has increased housing targets in Mid Devon by 46%! Delays in the building of new infrastructure at Tiverton and Cullompton will be a real challenge if these targets are to be approached. However, present estimates suggest that the new Government is unlikely to reach the number of completions achieved by the previous government within the next five years.
Planning Application 22/01098/MOUT for permission to build 120 houses and associated access at Horsdon was finally granted full planning consent with 27 conditions on July 31st 2024. Full details are posted on the Applications, Consultations and Responses Page

‘One reason the British today are not enthused by the subject of new housing is that for the past 60 years new homes have generally been bland, samey and soulless where they haven’t been downright ugly or dangerous….I do feel that if volume housebuilding acquired a reputation for architectural distinction communities would need less persuading to accept new developments.’ Richard Morrison in The Times 28.06.24..
Application No 2300152/MFUL – Former Police Station in The Avenue – has finally been granted planning permission, subject to conditions. For full details scroll down the Recent News Page. We have always supported this application, and the successful outcome for the application is excellent news for Tiverton’s built heritage.
Air Pollution. A report from Asthma+ Lung UK states that, as a result of air pollution, Britain has the worst death rate for lung conditions in Western Europe, and calls for tougher clean air targets. Air polltion has been linked to 36,000 premature deaths each year, and the British death rate from respiratory diseases is 134 per 100,000, compared to 38 per 100,000 in Finland. Please also see the Recent News and Archives Pages.
‘Demolition is not efficient or desirable for many reasons, so the challenge is how we upgrade, how we refit’. (Cam 94, 2021).
‘Meanwhile, in the outskirts of town, all of the fields are now filled with identikit homes that appear to have been pushed out of a plane as it flew overhead‘ (Jeremy Clarkson, writing about his home town, Chipping Norton, in the Sunday Times This could equally well apply to Tiverton, where the design of recent and planned housing developments shows minimal local distinctiveness!.
Please see the Recent News Page for information concerning the Anaerobic Digester problem and the Fly-Tipping ‘epidemic’.
The revised TrailTale app entry for Tiverton, developed with the assistance of this society, is now available. The app can be downloaded onto mobile phones free, and the entry for Tiverton can be found under ‘Guided Walks’.
Tiverton Civic Society supports the view that we should all, both individually and collectively, urgently act to combat the causes of climatic change. Predicted global effects of increasing average temperatures are: 0.5°C safety 1.3°C irreversible feedbacks (now) 1.5°C severe danger 2°C extreme danger 2.5°C approaching hell 3°C horror 3.5°C death of organised society 4°C human survival in doubt 5°C extinction possible 6°C extinction likely 7°C current trajectory. THE WORLD RECORDED AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE INCREASE Of 1.5% IN 2023! ACCORDING TO THE TABLE ABOVE WE ARE NOW AT THE POINT OF EXTREME DANGER. ”We look at the present through a rear view mirror. We march backwards into the future’. (Marshall McLuhan in ‘The Medium is the Message’).

Our new, revised, Merchants’ Trail leaflet is now available in the Tiverton Museum. Many thanks to Tiverton Town Council who provided the bulk of the funding._Merchant Trail leaflet ARTWORK 2018
Please see the Recent News Page for our statement about the new data protection regulations and for our Privacy Statement.
Many thanks to Jo Mortimer, the distinguished Tiverton artist, for permitting us to use some of her paintings on this website. These emphasise and enhance the attractiveness of many of our buildings and townscapes. See the Listed Buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments Page and the Links Page.
As a result of a contribution by this Society Historic England have highlighted Tiverton Conservation Area as one of six examples of ‘amazing conservation areas’ in England. Please see the Recent News and the Conservation Areas Pages.

Opposition to new developments is 'chiefly a cri de coeur against the second-rate, the environmentally damaging and the bland. Instead of new housing that people want, we have a soulless monoculture'.Richrad Bacon M.P.

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Membership Secretary: Randall Thane

Email: randallthane@gmail.com

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