The Breccia Hills and Coast is a strongly undulating and highly dissected landscape of deep winding valleys with intervening high rounded ridges, and coastal slopes and combes, with steep red sandstone cliffs along the coast itself. Coastal influence is felt throughout much of the area, with extensive estuary and sea views from the high ridges and coast and estuary slopes providing a strong sense of place. Dense hedgerows and narrow, winding lanes are characteristic, along with small blocks of mixed and broadleaved woodland, occasional old orchards and small parks and tree-lined streams. This landscape has a deeply rural character with scattered farmsteads and small villages within the narrow valleys. Overall, sense of tranquillity is strong, even close to the nearby large settlements of Shaldon, Torbay, Kingskerswell and Newton Abbot, by virtue of the separating steep ridges.
This is a coastal landscape comprising an area of undulating high ridges dissected by deep narrow valleys and traversed by a maze of sinuous lanes and ancient greenways. These ridges are clearly defined on all sides and stand out as distinctive from the surrounding land – the northern edge of the area is marked by the Teign Estuary and the southern edge by the built development of Torquay and Torbay. To the east is the sea and to the west the settlements of Newton Abbot and Kingskerswell set on the valley sides of the Aller Brook. To the south, the area extends as a narrow finger of coastal open plateau between Torquay resort and the sea as far as Hope’s Nose.
https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/teignbridge-and-east-devon-area/breccia-hills-and-coast
https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/landscape/devon-character-areas
Planning Strategy
To protect and manage the rural character and historic time-depth evident in the pattern of green lanes, fields and settlements; and to maintain the sense of contrast with surrounding conurbations. New development conserves extensive views across the landscape to the coast and estuary and sea views from the cliffs themselves. The character of the undeveloped high ridges, which provide visual separation and setting to the nearby towns, is conserved. The area’s popularity for recreation is managed to provide new sustainable recreation opportunities whilst ensuring landscape character is strengthened.
