TOTNES has to face up to the 'hard reality' of up to 250 new homes being built at Baltic Wharf or lose the hundreds of jobs which go with them, a packed public meeting has been told.

The meeting was warned by one protester that the project to re-shape the old timber yards beside the River Dart at Totnes would be better suited to the banks of the Thames or the Humber.

But the new homes are needed to pay for the £65million redevelopment scheme which includes a retirement village, nursing home, affordable and eco-homes, acres of public open space and thousands of square metres of employment land creating 300 new jobs for the town, the landowners claim.

"Without the 250 homes there is no scheme and there are no jobs," Steve Mittler, a partner in the TQ Partnership developers declared. "That's the hard reality."

More than 300 people crowded into Totnes Civic Hall for the public meeting called by town councillors to give townspeople a voice over the controversial development scheme.

One resident, John Cole, told the meeting: "It's terrific for the banks of the Thames or the Humber. It's just in the wrong place. As you come up the River Dart people do not want to see Totnes new town. It's the wrong scale for the historic borough."

Since the huge project was first unveiled last year the number the number of homes has increased and the proportion of affordable homes has gone down.

Mr Mittler explained that this had been forced on the partnership because of the crash in the housing market.

Many of the concerns expressed at the meeting centred on extra traffic adding to existing traffic problems in Totnes which is already the fourth most congested town in Devon.

But consultant Richard White said surveys showed that the town's traffic problems are already so bad that the impact of the Baltic Wharf scheme would be 'minimal'.

The partnership plans road improvements including widening the narrow sections of road leading to the Baltic Wharf site.

And the site is so close to the town centre that people will use sustainable modes of transport — such as cycling or walking — to shop and to get to work, the partnership says.

But resident Wendy Hartley said hundreds of car parking spaces for the homes plus visitors and care workers at the retirement village and care home meant it was 'farcical' to say that traffic would have no impact.

James Puckering, the man behind the retirement village plans, said that some 25 per cent of the 300 new jobs would be involved with the care of the elderly people.

Town councillors are opposed to the scheme because of its size and traffic but the final decision will be made by South Hams Council's development control committee some time after September.

Planning boss Steve Munday told the meeting that comments would be accepted by the district council until the day the decision is made.

Last week the TQ9 Partnership hit back at the town council's condemnation of the project claiming councillors had got their facts wrong.

After the public meeting Mr Mittler said: "This sort of meeting usually brings out objectors rather than supporters and the vast majority of objections are coming from our immediate neighbours.

"According to the extensive public consultation we have undertaken, the townspeople as a whole have been largely in favour of these revival plans, which bring over 300 additional jobs, up to 90 affordable homes and large areas of green and riverside space for the public."