A clear purpose.
An honest record.

Who runs this site

This site is operated by Nick Lawton, a Blackawton resident. It is not operated by Acorn, Vistry, South Hams District Council or Blackawton Parish Council.

We are gathering evidence for a planning objection focused on Acorn’s additional and cumulative impact on infrastructure, access and neighbouring homes. We welcome differing views, potential benefits and corrections. Our campaign position does not make every concern a proven fact or a valid planning ground.

Vistry’s existing remediation is pursued separately through the quarterly Vistry–French Furze meetings in the Village Hall; its history and progress provide evidence for assessing the new proposal, reliance on outstanding works and construction overlap.

For questions, corrections or privacy enquiries, contact nick@seadogs.dev.

The community discussion board

The Blackawton community board is a separate website hosted by Discourse. Anyone can read the public discussions. Sign up or log in to Discourse to start topics and reply.

Forum posts express their contributors’ views and are not automatically verified evidence or adopted as this project’s position. Relevant contributions may be checked, compiled and summarised for the website and a formal planning objection. Not every contribution will be used. We normally omit unnecessary personal details and will ask permission before reusing an exact quotation or identifiable personal account.

Forum accounts and posts are handled through Discourse, separately from this website’s forms. Read our community guidelines and privacy notice before contributing. Public posts can be read or indexed by others. Keep private contact details and sensitive information out of discussions.

How we handle evidence

We distinguish official records, resident accounts, our analysis and unanswered questions. A resident’s account records what they report; it does not by itself establish a cause or prove a planning breach.

Factual claims are linked to their sources and dates. We explain what a document establishes and its important limits. Historical assessments describe conditions and proposals at that time; they do not automatically establish today’s conditions. Linking to a developer or council document does not mean endorsing every conclusion.

Material added to this website’s evidence library is reviewed for relevance, accuracy where it can be checked, privacy and respectful language. We include relevant contrary evidence and explain uncertainty. Material corrections will carry a dated note. Report an error through the evidence form or email the page, statement and supporting source.

Our starting points include the South Hams planning register, Blackawton Parish Council records and Devon’s flood-risk records and guidance.

What the survey can tell us

The current question concerns future housing on the uphill land above French Furze, on the information available on 7 October 2026. A detailed application and final scheme have not been verified here. The survey is not a vote on an approved or fully documented layout.

Participation is voluntary. Results describe the responses received and are not a representative sample of the village or parish. Areas are self-reported; no residency or identity check is carried out. We use “responses”, not “unique residents” or “votes against permission”.

The exact questions and choices appear on the participation page. Respondents select a broad area, their current view and any topics they want examined. A selected topic is not automatically an objection or evidence of harm. Results show broad totals, with the denominator for each percentage. People can choose several topics, so those percentages may add to more than 100%.

A browser check aims to limit repeat survey responses. Clearing cookies or using another browser can bypass it; a shared browser can also prevent different people from responding separately. It cannot guarantee one response per person. Test submissions are excluded from public totals.

Totals reflect eligible responses retained at the time shown. Raw responses are scheduled for deletion after 24 months, so these are not permanent lifetime totals. The site does not publish raw responses or area-by-view breakdowns. Material changes to the questions or method will be dated.

Privacy and your information

Operator: Nick Lawton. Contact: nick@seadogs.dev. Read the full privacy notice for website and forum information, intended sharing, retention, providers and your rights.

Information you choose to share

The survey asks for a broad area, current view and selected topics. The evidence form asks for a topic, description and optional date and public source link. Neither asks for a name, email or home address. Descriptions and links can nevertheless identify people, so please omit personal information.

Submissions are held privately in Supabase. Evidence is reviewed before any publication; checked non-identifying summaries and public source links may be used on this site or in a collective planning objection. Uncorroborated reports remain labelled as reports. A required acknowledgment explains this intended use; it is not blanket consent or permission to publish personal details.

Browser checks

When the participation service is configured, opening the participation page sets a signed browser cookie. It lasts up to one year and its expiry is renewed when the service checks results or receives a submission. The cookie is restricted to this site, inaccessible to page scripts and marked secure on HTTPS.

The submission database stores a pseudonymous value derived from that cookie to recognise repeat survey submissions. The application’s submission records do not store raw IP addresses or browser user-agent strings. Hosting and database services may still process technical information in their logs. These forms should not be described as fully anonymous.

Retention and requests

Private raw form rows are scheduled for deletion after 24 months through daily cleanup. The privacy notice distinguishes these rows from checked public summaries, forum posts, provider logs and backups.

Keep a submission receipt if one is issued. Contact the operator with a privacy or correction request; without a receipt or sufficient detail, locating a submission may be difficult. Do not send extra sensitive information merely to identify it.

The approach is informed by the ICO’s privacy-information guidance and anonymisation guidance. These links are guidance, not a claim of compliance certification.

Making a formal planning comment

Posting or submitting a form does not automatically forward anything to Acorn or the council and is not itself your formal planning representation. The campaign may separately prepare an objection using reviewed relevant evidence. We will identify any submission we actually make; taking part is not proof that one has been submitted.

When an application is available, read its plans, check the deadline and submit your own comments through the South Hams planning register, quoting the correct reference. We will link the specific application once verified.

Planning decisions consider relevant policies and evidence. The number of members, likes, replies or survey responses does not decide permission. See the government’s decision-making guidance.

Check the council’s current publication and privacy notice before including personal information in a formal representation. Council submissions have different publication arrangements from this website’s forms.