A planning application for a significant land development project at East Nutcott Farm in North Devon has triggered a wave of local opposition, drawing the attention of both district and county regulators.
The site’s owners, Titham Limited, have submitted a proposal to Devon County Council to import 663,000 tonnes of “clean soil” sourced from construction projects. The application outlines plans to use this material for the re-profiling of approximately 22 acres of land. According to the planning documents, the project is intended to restore “disturbed ground,” create a “stable and naturalistic landform,” and facilitate a long-term ecological management and habitat creation programme.
However, the scale of the project has raised alarms among local residents. To date, 159 formal objections have been lodged on the Devon County Council website. Residents of the nearby village of Rackenford have expressed deep concern regarding the impact of the proposed development, specifically citing the potential for four years of persistent disruption.
Local concerns center on the logistics of moving such a large volume of earth through the area. Critics argue that the narrow, single-track lanes in the vicinity are unsuitable for the heavy industrial traffic required to transport the material. Councillor Richard Hopley (Reform UK, South Molton) has voiced strong opposition to the scale of the operation.
“Pouring up to 70 heavy lorries a day down single-track rural lanes for four years is completely unacceptable for the Rackenford community,” Cllr Hopley said. “Our roads, historic buildings, and local environment cannot sustain this level of industrial activity. We are calling on the planning authority to listen to local residents and subject this application to the strictest possible scrutiny.”
The tension is exacerbated by an ongoing investigation into the site by the Environment Agency (EA), which is working in coordination with Devon County Council and North Devon District Council. An EA spokesperson confirmed that the agency is working to “stop waste activity at this site that may be unlawful,” though they declined to provide further details regarding the active investigation.
Titham Limited has firmly contested allegations of impropriety. Company representative John Woolstencroft stated that the business has fully cooperated with all regulatory bodies, providing open access to the site for inspections. He noted that the company has not received requests for further data or inspections since the summer.
“Inspections by the EA and the council have not identified that any works are unregulated or that any unsuitable materials have been imported,” Mr. Woolstencroft said. He added that the company’s separate land improvement works—which involve the use of clean aggregate for farm tracks and fall under permitted development rights—have been unfairly conflated by critics with the proposed landfill scheme.
Titham Limited maintains that the project is a necessary response to regional demand for inert waste management. The company argues that Devon’s planning policies encourage the management of construction materials as close to their source as possible, positioning the East Nutcott plan as a sustainable local solution.
As the planning process moves forward, the divide between the developers’ vision of land restoration and the community’s concerns over road safety and environmental degradation remains stark. Devon County Council, which must now weigh the application against local planning policy and the ongoing regulatory scrutiny, has yet to issue a final decision.
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