Totnes Community Development Society (TCDS) is going head to head with owners of the town’s former Dairy Crest site Fastglobe in a bid to win the public’s support and develop the site itself after revealing new plans.

The organisation behind the Atmos Project has created an updated vision featuring 62 homes which it says are ‘truly affordable’ and built to high standards of energy efficiency, 7,000 square metres of new workspace, a hotel providing training and education for young people, and a fully-restored Brunel building.

TCDS will be presenting the plans at a public meeting in the Seven Stars Hotel at 7pm on Friday, June 16 to which everyone in the town and across the South Hams is invited.

It follows hot on the heels of a revised plan by Fastglobe. The glue company has so far failed to get planning permission for the site. In its latest proposal it has increased the number of houses from 25 to 79 and removed the holiday lodges, in response, it says, to what the community wants.

But TCDS is urging people to support its vision which its says complies with the Joint Local Plan and has been approved as acceptable with South Hams planning officers at the pre-application stage.

A spokesperson for the society said: “The new plans renew the determination and the dedication that so many people share, for seeing the new Atmos Totnes project transform the old Dairy Crest site. These plans continue to reflect the original public consultation and represent a vibrant and exemplary low carbon development - generating much of its own power on site and giving Totnes the last element of the town’s vital flood defences.

‘Our public, private and philanthropic investment mix means we have been able to unlock the site to deliver what this community voted for. Atmos is the scheme that represents the future of this vital site. ”

See full story in this week's Totnes Times