Staplegrove development, Taunton, one step closer as s106 signed

Taunton Deane Borough Council gave permission in October 2017 for two separate housing developments – dubbed ‘Staplegrove East’ and ‘Staplegrove West’ – which will deliver a total of 1,628 homes between them.

Planning officers at the new Somerset West and Taunton Council have confirmed that an agreement for the ‘west’ site has now been signed, making it more likely that detailed plans will come forward later this year.

Negotiations surrounding the ‘east’ site – centring on the developer’s contributions to local amenities – remain ongoing.

READ MORE: SPECIAL REPORT: Debate over 1,600 homes in Staplegrove rages on

This comes a couple of weeks after the government pledged to fund the spine road which will run through the site, Kingston Road to the A358 Staplegrove Road.

Ptarmigan Staplegrove Ltd applied for 713 homes between Whitmore Lane and Silk Mills (‘Staplegrove West’), while PM Asset Management Ltd applied for 915 homes north of Corkscrew Lane (‘Staplegrove East’).

A council spokeswoman said: “The application for Staplegrove West was originally approved subject to a section 106 agreement. That has now been signed.

“The Section 106 agreement for the other application, covering Staplegrove East, hasn’t been approved yet. We expect that to be completed soon and for reserved matters to come forward later this year.”

Section 106 agreements are legal documents which bind housing developers to contributing amenities as part of a new development.

This can either be a commitment to provide a new facility in itself – such as a primary school or a doctors’ surgery – or a financial contribution to the council, which can then be spent as demand for said facilities dictates.

The council has not confirmed whether these applications will come before its planning committee.

Ward councillors – such as those being elected on May 2 – can request for planning applications to come before the committee to be decided in public if they believe it is in the public interest, or if the local parish or town council disagrees with the planning officers’ recommendation.

The progress made with the legal agreements comes only a short time after the government pledged to fund the spine road which would run through both developments.

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow had pushed for £7.2M in a bid to the government’s housing infrastructure fund (HIF), which provides funding for roads and other major projects needed to ‘unlock’ sites for housing.

READ MORE: 'You're not getting £7m - have £14m instead' - Government doubles what MP said was pledged for new road

But the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed on March 25 that the Staplegrove spine road would actually be granted £14.2M – nearly twice what was originally requested.

The council confirmed in December 2018 that a “drop down road” to Corkscrew Lane would be needed at the start of the construction process before the spine road was in place.

Councillor Richard Parrish, executive member for planning policy and transport, said at the time: “Whilst it was initially hoped that the delivery of the spine road at the start of the development would prevent the need for a temporary access, it has become apparent that it is necessary to enable the acceleration of housing delivery, which is a government requirement for the HIF.

“I fully appreciate that the residents of Staplegrove and the Whitmore Road area are disappointed, but although there remains a need for a temporary access, this will be in use for a considerably shorter period of time than would have been the case without HIF funding.

“We will make every effort to ensure there is as little disruption as possible during this phase of the development.”