Decision on 100 Martock homes delayed over flooding concerns

Martock LVA LLP put forward plans in April 2021 to construct the new homes on Coat Road at the north-western edge of Martock, opposite the Coat Grove estate of 120 properties recently delivered by Barratt Homes.

The development is one of more than 50 in the former South Somerset area which has been held up by the phosphates crisis, along with the extension of the neighbouring Lyndhurst Grove estate, where Larkfleet Homes is planning to erect a further 35 houses.

The Coat Road plans came before the council’s planning committee south in Yeovil on Tuesday afternoon (December 19), with planning officers recommending approval after phosphate mitigation had been agreed.

But councillors voted unanimously to defer a decision until the new year, asking for more information on how the new homes would be protected from flooding and not make existing flood issues in the village worse.

In addition to the new homes, the developer intends to create new open green space, an orchard and woodland at the western edge of the site, to prevent Martock from merging with the neighbouring hamlet of Coat.

The phosphates issue will be overcome in two ways: the installation of an on-site package treatment plant by Albion Water, and the purchasing of phosphate credits generated by fallowing farmland in the Blackdown Hills.

The developer has promised to provide just over £1m for local school places, comprising nearly £154,000 for the early years provision at Martock Church of England Primary School on Elmleigh Road, more than £546,000 for the primary school’s main provision and just over £348,000 for Stanchester Academy in the neighbouring village of Stoke-sub-Hamdon.

But Andrew Clegg, a retired chemist who worked on the Martock Neighbourhood Plan, said the village was growing too quickly for local services to cope.

He said: “We opposed this in 2021 because it would undermine the South Somerset settlement hierarchy policy, taking the total number of new homes in the Local Plan period to around 400.

“Because phosphate mitigation is not usually formalised until reserved matters, it has the consequence of the area south area never having a five-year land supply.

“Martock sewage works is currently being modified, but the council is not counting this.

“We would like to see this postponed to consider the mitigation, and we would like a face-to-face meeting with the developers.”

The plans for 100 homes, an orchard and woodlands. (Image: Clifton Emery Design)

The plans were originally submitted during the coronavirus pandemic, limiting the scope for in-person consultation events open to the general public.

John Coat, who lives in Coat, said: “The green gap was designated in 2021 to protect Coat and Stapleton from the urban creep of Martock.

“Is this blank area within the plans to be left to nature, or to be left to be developed in a future phase? There’s no indication in the application as to who will be responsible for maintaining this area.

“Cramming 100 houses into this space is not the right number, and is not at the right time.”

Martock resident Anthony Phillips added: “There is already an 80 per cent out-commuting from Martock, so this site could generate at least another 150 movements a day.

“North Street is already heavily congested, and Ash suffers extremely congestion at peak times, especially around the primary school. This poses a real danger to people’s safety and air pollution, harming people’s health.

“The surgery is already struggling to cope with demand, and much of its work is handled by South Petherton Surgery, which is three miles away with no public transport.”

Councillor Henry Hobhouse, who represents Castle Cary and the neighbouring villages, said that this development needed to be seriously considered in light of recent flooding on the Somerset Levels.

He said: “All the roads in and out of Martock have flooded twice in the past month – meaning no-one could enter and leave this site. How could you have a flood risk report that doesn’t pick this up?

“I have the same problem in Podimore, where homes have flooded three times this year. We have got to look at flooding properly.”

Councillor Sue Osborne (who represents the Ilminster area) said that the council should undertake a study in response to the recent floods, in line with previous extreme weather events in Chard and Ilminster.

She said: “Will there be a Section 19 report into the Martock flooding? The Parrett Internal Drainage Board want a hydrological assessment on the nearby rhyne before they can endorse this.

“Frankly, in the light of recent events, I’d be happy to defer this for further information. I think it would be morally wrong of this committee to pass this application on a site which could in the future face flood risk itself.”

Following a short debate, the committee voted unanimously to defer a decision on the plans until further information on the flood risk within the site was made available.

The committee will hold its next meetings in Yeovil on January 9 and January 30, with both meetings beginning at 2pm.