History was made on Monday evening (June 28) when a full meeting of Torridge District Council (TDC) was held in Holsworthy Memorial Hall.

County Councillor for Holsworthy Rural Barry Parsons raised what he described were the shortcomings in the way Torridge District Council had presented its case against the plans of Catesby Property Group to develop the Old Show Field.

At the appeal inquiry held at Halwill in April, Cllr Richard Brown said the consequences of allowing the development to go ahead were 'devastating'. He was embarrassed by the way the council had put its case, despite having three months to prepare.

Chairman of TDC, Cllr James Morrish asked for an investigation and the matter will now be subject to an internal enquiry.

Reporting to the council on the Holsworthy Area Advisory Group Meeting held on June 7, Cllr Brown said the plans for creating a gypsy and travellers' site at Derriton were now in limbo.

Liz Steele, TDC housing manager, had said that following a change of government after the election, the Regional Spatial Strategy was going to be abolished.

This meant that the council's target to provide 24 gypsy and traveller pitches would also disappear. The government's intentions were not yet clear with regard to pitch provision so the Derriton project was being held in abeyance until the situation becomes clear.