Plans for a new service station on the M5, between Poltimore and Broadclyst, just outside Exeter, have failed to gain support from East Devon District Council.
The council is currently updating its local plan and considering which sites would be suitable for development.
According to The Packet, at a committee meeting earlier this week, one councillor said the plans would be a disaster for Broadclyst while a clerk for Broadclyst Parish Council said it would cause significant harm to the village’s heritage and the surrounding landscape.
There is a National Trust property – Killerton Estate – near to the proposed site and there were concerns about it “undermining the estate’s visual and heritage integrity”.
The Council said that, at the present time, a motorway services was not needed. But added that if services were required in the future the site between Poltimore and Broadclyst would be one of the few suitable locations and the position would be reconsidered.
