Fastglobe refusal must lead to former Dairy Crest site being returned to the local community.

Fastglobe’s ill-fated plans for developing the former Dairy Crest site in Totnes have been resoundingly refused once again.

The planning experts at South Hams District Council have ruled there are significant flaws in the Fastglobe proposal. In addition to the flaws, SHDC has highlighted Fastglobe’s lack of consultation with local people during the planning process. 

Objections to the Fastglobe plan include a lack of affordable housing, flood risk and inadequate information provided for the community. 

This is the second time that Fastglobe’s plans have been formally refused since they bought the eight-acre site for £1.35 million in January 2021. 

The refusal is a major, if not permanent, set-back for the commercial team behind the plan; Fastglobe, a mastics company from Essex, and the Brunel Park Partnership, led by Patrick Gillies, a freelance land agent who moved to Totnes a few years ago.

Huge numbers of local people wrote to SHDC to express their concerns about Fastglobe’s plan. In contrast, very few local people showed any support.   

Fastglobe has not made any comment about the refusal. But a ‘For Sale’ sign has appeared outside the Brunel Building this week, putting this historic listed building on the open market, for £750,000. 

This follows the sale of the site’s office building in April this year, which went on the market for £350,000.

Fastglobe’s corporate decision to sell off the former Dairy Crest site, bit by bit, could prevent Atmos - the community-led development which is supported by thousands of local people - from going ahead.

The Atmos project has been developed by Totnes Community Development Society, working with local architect Andrew Kirkby. It is backed by £2.5 million of Heritage Lottery funding. 

The Atmos proposal serves SHDC’s joint local plan perfectly, with 62 affordable homes, a training hotel, 7,000 sq ft of space for local businesses and an innovative flood defence system. Atmos will be a sustainable development, powered by renewable energy, with profits being re-invested in the town.

Rather than sell pieces of the site to various buyers, Fastglobe could sell the whole site back to Totnes, enabling the Atmos project to go ahead. 

The future of the former Dairy Crest site has now reached a critical moment. The Fastglobe plan is all but over and the site is now at risk of being broken up. Totnes cannot allow this to happen. It’s time for discussions to take place between all parties, facilitated by SHDC, about returning the site back to the local community.