Richard Rawlins, of Beacon Road, Kingswear, writes:

Concerns of Dartmouth ­residents that South Hams Council’s district management committee has given approval to an application for an extension of a house in Higher Broad Park, Dartmouth, Chronicle, January 27, will be shared by all South Hams residents.

Cllr Hilary Bastone’s declared surprise and disappointment ‘that Cllr Rowe had recommended the plan for approval’ is widely shared and will fuel the feeling that the ­district council does not represent its constituents’ wishes.

Apparently, no town councillor attended the site visit, but as no one is allowed to lobby or even speak to the visit team that is surely of little import.

I fully endorse Cllr Bastone’s wise words in saying that the hypothetical situation of an appeal against refusal being lost, and the district council being liable for costs, should not have influenced the ­decision. The town council’s objection was well founded.

South Hams officers acknowledged that the proposal will have impact upon neighbours, and the district council should be more robust about supporting residents’ views. Officers have said that the proposal is ‘not unacceptable’ – to them, that is, and to Cllr Rowe, who lives in Stoke Gabriel. But it is clearly unacceptable to Dartmouth residents.

No doubt Cllr Rowe will explain her rationale when next she visits the town council, bearing in mind that two Liberal South Hams Council councillors supported the town council’s opinion.