A decision on new commercial units near the A303 has been pushed back – because the planning officer in charge has left the council.

Anthony Canvin applied in June 2022 to build up to 34 light industrial units off the A359 High Street in Sparkford, intended as ‘starter units’ to provide a base for small businesses in the local area.

After more than two years of delays, the plans came before Somerset Council’s planning committee south in Yeovil on Tuesday afternoon (September 24) for a decision.

But it quickly emerged that a decision could not be taken because the planning officer responsible for the application had recently left the council as a result of its ongoing transformation programme.

An officer told the committee: “It has come to light that there are some fairly fundamental problems with the committee report – which was written by David Kenyon, who now no longer works for the council.

“There are some consultation responses that are wrong. On that basis, I do not feel that committee members have the correct information to make a decision.

“I’m suggesting that we pull this one [from the agenda] so I can redo the report and bring it back to your November meeting.”

The new business units will be arranged in eight blocks on a greenfield site between the former Haynes publishing site to the north and the site of a planned development of 45 homes and a 60-bed care home.

This plans entail the creation of a new access road off the A359, providing the new businesses with a straightforward route to the A303 – with National Highways’ dualling work on the section between Sparkford and Ilchester expected to be completed by the spring of 2025.

Councillor Henry Hobhouse (whose Castle Cary division includes Sparkford) lambasted the council’s lack of planning resources and called for urgent action to prevent further flooding in the village.

Sparkford and its neighbouring villages were badly hit by flooding in May 2023, with 177 properties being subjected to internal flooding after the area experienced 130mm of rainfall in just 90 minutes.

Mr Hobhouse said: “Behind me, I have four members of Sparkford Parish Council who have come in today to make a point about the problems with this committee meeting.

“I would also wish to highlight a report on flooding and the sewage problems in Sparkford. Your flooding officer said he didn’t have the resources to do the full research before it came to this committee.

“I would ask you to ensure that the flooding situation is Sparkford is properly researched, because we have fundamental problems with the pipes going underneath the railway from the top end of the village to the bottom end – and that pipe cannot be changed.

“We have a major sewage problem in this application. There are raw sewage coming up in Church Road in Sparkford.

“My information tells me that these units will not be connected to the sewage network for six years, and it will cost between £2m and £3m.”

A member of the public – who did not provide their name – then shouted: “This has been going on for two years. How long do you need to get your act together?”

Planning officer Dawn de Vries responded: “We have been, as people are aware, experiencing some staff turnover.

“As a result of that, there are significant major applications that are left hanging with a number of issues that need picking up and pushing forward.

“I do apologise for the delays that you have been experiencing, but we are looking to try and move things forward and get resolutions”.

The committee voted by eight votes to none (with one abstention) to reconsider the Sparkford proposals at its meeting on November 26.

The October meeting of the committee – which is scheduled to take place on October 2 – will be largely devoted to the revised proposals for more than 700 homes on the Mudford urban extension in Yeovil.