Plans for 270 homes at edge of Midsomer Norton approved

Mendip District Council’s planning board voted in July 2022 to approve Waddeton Park Ltd.’s plans for 270 homes on the A367 Green Park Road at the southern edge of Midsomer Norton.

Following a judicial review, which removed this site and four others from the council’s Local Plan Part II, the board met in January to debate the plans afresh – opting on that occasion to defer and allow for further consultation with local residents.

The board has now approved the plans afresh in one of its final actions before the council is abolished at the end of the month.

While Midsomer Norton lies within the Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) area, the Waddeton Park site (and two others nearby) are located in the Mendip district, and are therefore subject to the decisions of its councillors and planning officers.

The site lies between the existing homes to the north and a planned development of 75 homes on Beauchamps Drive to the south – which was granted outline permission on appeal in May 2022, with a reserved matters application (detailing the design and layout of the homes) currently being out for public consultation.

The Waddeton site was removed from the Local Plan Part II after the High Court ruled that the planning inspector had “misinterpreted” a previous commitment to providing 505 homes in the north-eastern part of Mendip by 2029.

As a result, the application essentially amounts to building in open countryside – something which both local and national planning law tries to discourage.

Local resident Jon Carter warned the planning board – which met in Shepton Mallet on Wednesday evening (March 15) that approving this latest development would create too much additional traffic and could put schoolchildren at risk.

He said: “Even to consider this application is to ignore the drastic effect that so many more houses, above and beyond the 75 approved on Beauchamp Drive, will have on the gridlocked traffic which already occurs here.

“So much extra traffic, so much extra danger, especially outside this local schools. You as district councillors bear responsibility.”

Jennifer Gregory, clerk of Stratton-on-the-Fosse Parish Council, said the development of this site, the Beauchamps Drive site and the land on the opposite side of the A367 would represent unsustainable levels of growth for Midsomer Norton.

She said: “In total, more than 500 houses will be built in a small area, which sounds very much like the beginnings of a town.

“BANES has always been insistent that there is insufficient employment in the local area. Every local parish objects.

“Adding 270 homes to Stratton-on-the-Fosse is the equivalent of adding an extra 2,736 people to Shepton Mallet.”

The White Post Inn on the A367 Green Park Road in Midsomer Norton. (Image: Google Street View)

In addition to delivering 81 affordable homes, the development will provide more than £488,000 towards public open space within Midsomer Norton, nearly £350,000 for special education needs (SEND) school places and more than £392,000 for a cycle link to the Somer Valley Enterprise Zone, which planned to be constructed on the A362 near the town’s Tesco supermarket.

Simon Steele-Perkins, director of Waddeton Park Ltd., argued that “the impacts of this development are limited and the benefits are substantial.”

Councillor Steve Henderson disagreed, arguing that the traffic issues needed to be addressed before more new homes were delivered.

He said: “I had to drive to Peasedown St. John twice yesterday [March 14] – the traffic going down Westfield is bad at the best of times, and this is only going to make it worse.

“This is a development that does not need to be done – it can only harm the area. The infrastructure is not there to support the people. I cannot see any redeeming factors.”

Councillor Lindsay MacDougall added: “Walking to the supermarket is the equivalent of walking from Glastonbury to Street, which takes half an hour. You need the buses.

“There don’t seem to be any buses running in the evening to Frome, for instance – so anyone who doesn’t have a car won’t have a social life.”

Councillor Nigel Hewitt-Cooper said that refusing the plans on these grounds would leave the council open to an appeal, given the lack of a formal objection from Somerset County Council’s highways department.

He said: “Highways haven’t raised any objections – we’ve been here a million times before. If we refuse on that basis, we’re on a hiding to nothing.

“Houses have to go somewhere, we all accept that. We find ourselves in this situation quite frequently.”

Councillor Helen Kay said the plans were of a higher standard than the numerous developments which had been recently approved in Frome.

He said: “Relative to some of the things we’ve had before us, it’s quite a good application all around. We’ve got a green buffer all around and a lot of green space.

“It would be great if there was provision for a small shop on-site, so people don’t have to jump in their cars to get milk.”

Councillor Alan Townsend added: “I’m very familiar with this site. There are schools and shops nearby with public transport – all of those are infinitely better than the site in Coleford where 63 homes were approved.”

After around 45 minutes’ debate, the board voted to approve the plans by 11 votes to zero, with one abstention.

Any decisions on the neighbouring sites in Midsomer Norton will be taken by the new unitary Somerset Council, which officially assumes control on April 1.