AN APPLICATION is to be submitted by the Okehampton Skills and Sports Trust to build housing on a derelict mill site in the centre of Okehampton.

The charitable trust will be applying to West Devon Borough Council for planning permission to build four townhouses and 14-16 apartments on the derelict mill site off Mill Road near Okehampton College.

The application will involve demolishing most of the derelict buildings dating from the 19th century but retaining the imposing factory chimney which is protected from demolition by Grade II listing.

Ian Courtney, from the trust, said: ‘We’re applying for planning permission to West Devon Borough Council for the scheme. It is being designed to reflect the industrial heritage of the site and it is a really cracking looking scheme. It will be a mixture of townhouses and apartments, about 18-20 units.

‘We want to get a planning scheme approved and then market it as a scheme to build. If we can’t then get a developer the Okehampton Skills and Sports Trust will build it themselves.’

Mr Courtney said the trust intended to use the money raised from selling the site with planning permission to invest in other schemes, including a ‘business incubation unit’ which it is currently building on Okehampton East Business Park. This will offer units for young people to start up businesses at preferential rents, alongside units being offered at commercial rents to subsidise the charitable aspect of the scheme.

The trust is also funding an all-weather pitch at the new St James Primary School for which it is currently seeking planning permission and is proposing to construct an all-weather pitch in Simmons Park for use by the college and town football team.

The application for the Mill Road site comes after the trust, set up using funds from a local benefactor to provide facilities in the community, bought the site back from West Devon Borough Council earlier this year. WDBC had bought the site speculatively for its own commercial venture but subsequently abandoned the plan. Earlier plans for the site included a vocational training centre for young people, but this was built instead nearby at Okehampton College.