100 new homes planned near Gravity site in Puriton, Somerset

Gladman Developments secured outline planning permission from Sedgemoor District Council in May 2022 to build 120 homes on 120 new homes on Woolavington Road in Puriton, a short distance from the Gravity campus which is currently being developed near Bridgwater.

The Congleton-based developer subsequently sold the site to Redrow Homes, which submitted detailed proposals – known as a reserved matters application – for the same number of homes in October 2022.

Somerset Council has now approved these amended proposals – meaning construction on the new ‘Polden Orchards’ development could begin later in the year.

The site lies at the eastern edge of Puriton, between the existing homes on Puriton Park and the £10.3M link road which connects the Gravity complex to the A39 Bath Road.

The land is not allocated for housing within the Sedgemoor Local Plan (which runs to 2032), and is not designed to replace homes already intended to fill part of the Gravity site as part of the approved local development order (LDO).

Access will be from Woolavington Road, with existing trees at the southern edge of the site being retained and a play area being created at the western edge, near the existing homes on Puriton Park.

Revised plans for the new homes. (Image: Redrow Homes)

Of the 120 planned properties (which range from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom homes), 36 will be affordable – meeting the council’s target for 30 per cent affordable homes in any new development of ten homes or more.

A spokesman for Redrow Homes said: “Developments have been graduating southwards of the historic centre of Puriton (where St. Michael’s Church stands) since before the 19th century.

“The area of Puriton has embraced a variety of schemes, from the developments of Rowlands Rise and Puriton Park in the 20th century, to Puriton Gate and Riverton Gardens (located in the north-west) in more recent times.”

The site will be connected to the Gravity site via pedestrian and cycle paths, joining up with the routes implemented when the A39 link road was constructed – and eventually connecting with a new route between Puriton and Woolavington.

Somerset Council eventually intends to create an unbroken cycle route between the Gravity site and the town centre over the M5 as part of its Bridgwater local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), which was published in mid-2022.

Sedgemoor District Council approved the outline plans for the Puriton site on the condition that the £5.3m upgrade to the nearby Dunball roundabout (which links the village to Bridgwater via Junction 23 of the M5) must be completed before all the new homes are occupied.

Preliminary work on the roundabout began in February, with construction expected to ramp up in the summer and the work to be completed by early-2024.

A spokesman for National Highways (which manages the M5) said: “A contract was let earlier [this year] for delivery of the A38 Dunball roundabout improvement, providing sufficient certainty that the capacity enhancement will come forward in the short term.

“On that basis, we are satisfied that the development is unlikely to result in an unacceptable impact on the safe operation of junction 23.”

Redrow Homes is expected to deliver a large number of homes in the Taunton area over the coming years, with major developments planned within both the Staplegrove and Monkton Heathfield urban extensions.

Phase one of the Staplegrove urban extension – which will eventually comprise more than 1,600 homes – was given the green light by Somerset West and Taunton Council in November 2022, following the approval of new wetlands to the north in September the same year.

A decision on phase two of the Monkton Heathfield urban extension of more than 1,200 homes (which will be delivered jointly with Persimmon Homes South West) is expected to be made in the autumn.

Redrow is expected to begin construction on the Polden Orchards site later in the year.