Developers building in Dartington have been urged to create homes that are more SWIMBY( Something Wonderful In My Backyard ) than NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) .

Members of South Hams Council’s development management committee decided on the chairman’s casting vote to allow a new home to be built on the edge of the village.

But some members had serious concerns at the ‘over-massing’ of the building and its effect on the community.

Ward councillor Jacqi Hodgson (Green, Dartington and Staverton) said: “This isn’t about NIMBYs saying not in my backyard, it should be about SWIMBYs saying something wonderful in my backyard – not something that creates an upset.”

Members were debating an application for a home with two new garages at Greenhayes on the edge of the village. A previous application for the site had been turned down, but the committee heard that the current application was for a smaller home.

Neighbour Allan Tudor said the plan would ‘shoehorn’ a home into a site which had poor access, and Cllr Hodgson said Dartington had already seen a rapid increase in housing.

She said the application would be over-massing and would make a substantial difference to the rural character of the site.

“People have to live with the decisions we make,” she said. “This is one of those applications that should just be rejected. This is just not right for that road.”

Other residents had also objected to the application saying: “ We have concerns about the increase in traffic, pollution and noise generated from a build such as this, particularly the heavy vehicles that would be used.”

The committee voted five in favour of the application and five against. The vote was decided in favour of the development – with a number of conditions – on the casting vote of chairman Cllr Mark Long (Independent, Salcombe and Thurlestone).