Devon plans £9m land sale as Ivybridge site earmarked for disposal

Devon County Council is hoping to raise up to £9 million from the sale of surplus land and property by April next year, including land near Ivybridge that was once earmarked for the proposed Lee Mill A38 slip road.

Members of the council's land and property committee approved the disposal of six more sites at a meeting on Wednesday (July 22), adding to a programme of sales expected to generate between £6 million and £8 million from sites already declared surplus.

The council has already sold four sites during the current financial year, which runs until the start of April 2027, raising £785,000.

It expects to generate between £6 million and £8 million from sites already declared surplus, including Exeter's Larkbeare House.

The latest sites approved for sale include land at Beech Farm in Ivybridge, land at Ivybridge Rugby Club, Torridgeside Link Centre, the former Barnstaple Link Community Centre, part of the car park at Axminster Fire Station and a building at the former Kenton Primary School.

Councillors heard that land at Beech Farm had previously been identified as the site of a new slip road onto the A38 at Lee Mill.

Councillor Dan Thomas (Liberal Democrat, South Brent & Yealmpton) said: "The engineering and funding challenges mean the Lee Mill slip road scheme is not deliverable.

"There are significant concerns in relation to compliance with highway design standards and engineering constraints are difficult to overcome."

He added that even if funding became available, the challenges involved meant the scheme could not go ahead.

The committee also heard that Ivybridge Rugby Club wants to buy a parcel of county council-owned land so it can build new facilities, including changing rooms.

In Axminster, Devon & Cornwall Police is in negotiations with the county council to buy part of the fire station car park.

Local member Councillor Paul Hayward (Independent, Axminster), who is also clerk to Axminster Town Council, said the proposal had the town's support.

"If this car park was not available, then they would have to park on the streets around the station, and officers would be leaving in plain clothes without the protection of their uniforms and they could be identified," he said.

"We are 100 per cent behind this."

Councillors also heard that the building at the former Kenton Primary School could be sold to an education organisation, although no agreement has yet been reached.

Some councillors asked whether any of the sites could instead be retained for social housing.

However, officers said the buildings and plots of land were generally too small and reiterated previous advice that the council should avoid property development, citing difficulties experienced by other local authorities that had entered the housebuilding sector.