Castle Cary residents face wait for decision over 81 homes

Castle Cary (BMI) Ltd applied to redevelop the former BMI complex on the A371 Cumnock Road in Castle Cary to deliver a total of 81 new homes for the town.

South Somerset District Council twice voted to refuse the plans in the summer of 2019 – a decision which was subsequently upheld by the Planning Inspectorate in December 2020 following a public inquiry.

Following a successful high court challenge, a second public inquiry was instituted in November 2021, with hearings originally being set for December 2021 before being pushed back to March 2022 and subsequently delayed again.

More than a year on, no definitive date for this second inquiry has yet been set by planning inspectors – meaning residents may be waiting for months or even years for a decision.

The brownfield site is currently surrounded on three sides by existing residential developments on Ansford Road, Cumnock Road and Upper High Street.

The original plans envisioned 70 new homes being built on the brownfield site, with the remaining 11 dwellings being delivered by converting the existing mill buildings.

An architect's drawing of the proposed development on the former BMI site. (Image: Boon Brown Architects)

These proposals were originally refused on the grounds of “deficient” parking levels, the high density of housing and the new estate road not being adopted and maintained by the county council.

The Planning Inspectorate ruled in the council’s favour in November 2020 – but ordered the local authority to pay the developer’s legal costs due to “unreasonable behaviour” on the former’s part during the appeal process.

Inspector Jasmine Rogers confirmed in November 2021 that a second inquiry will be held, with the High Court judgement confirming the entire application needed to be redetermined.

A spokesman for the Planning Inspectorate said: “The hearing date has not been confirmed yet, and it is unlikely to take place until at least the end of this year.”

A spokesman for Somerset Council confirmed: “We have not received any revised date for the hearing. This appeal remains delayed due to phosphates issues.”

More than 18,000 homes across Somerset are being held up by the need to secure phosphate mitigation following the Dutch N court ruling.

Large quantities of these homes lie within the former South Somerset area, which includes Castle Cary – with the council estimating that more than 50 major developments are currently being delayed until sufficient mitigation can be secured.