Mum urges Tesco to unlock 'life-changing' homes site

A mum on the affordable housing list is among villagers asking retail giant Tesco to reconsider a refusal to share an access road so a "life-changing" housing development can be built.

Emma Hookway is backing Braunton Community Land Trust (CLT), a not-for-profit in north Devon, which hopes to build 25 homes for affordable rent.

Members said the supermarket chain was blocking the use of a 100m (328ft) access road by its site.

Tesco declined to respond.

But the BBC has seen correspondence from Tesco denying access to the road.

It said access would create a right of way over the land and this would "preclude our ability to reutilise this part of the site in the future".

Tesco also suggested alternative access points, but the CLT said these were not viable due to their positioning and geography.

Emma Hookway, who has been on the affordable rental waiting list in Braunton for two years, has demanded Tesco "thinks again".

Ms Hookway, who lives with son Louis, nine, above a busy pub, added: "It would be life-changing to live somewhere like this - to have somewhere we can feel safe and solid and not have to leave.

"I'd like to sit down with the bosses of Tesco and their community leaders and have them explain the reason they can't help with this."

She added: "If I were to lose our home now, I'd be terrified - I think we'd end up in emergency accommodation because we just can't afford what's out there.

"And there are so many people out there in my position."

Roy Tomlinson, from the Braunton CLT, said their proposed housing would be ringfenced for people from the area and rented at 60% of market value.

This, he said, could help some of the 125 people on the housing waiting list in Braunton and neighbouring Heaton Punchardon.

The affordable rental status, meanwhile, would be protected "in perpetuity".

A landowner on the outskirts of the village has offered to sell them the field for an affordable price, he added, but access is needed to unlock funding.

Mr Tomlinson said: "We are very frustrated. When we started this process over two years ago, we thought we were making progress.

"If Tesco had told us two years ago it was a no, we might have been able to try other methods."

According to North Devon Council, there were no affordable homes built in Braunton in the financial year 2022/23, while nine were built in 2021/22 and 10 in 2020/21.

There are more than 2,000 households registered as being in need of affordable housing in north Devon, it added.

Val Cann, from the land trust and a former teacher in Braunton, added: "The local schools have dramatically falling rolls because young families just can't afford to live here."

Mark Cann, also on the trust's board, said: "We are ready to go - the landowner is prepared to sell at the right price. We could make this happen very quickly.

"Come on, Tesco - grant us access to the road."

The BBC has asked Tesco for a comment.

There are now more than 548 Community Land Trusts in England and Wales.

These democratic, non-profit organisations look to own and develop land for the benefit of communities - often bypassing the big developers.

The CLT Network said those in Devon and Cornwall were helping to provide desperately-needed affordable housing across the region.

There are now 587 projects by CLTs, which have completed more than 1,800 homes, with 7,100 in the pipeline, it added.

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