Nearly 50 new homes could be built just one mile from a Somerset beauty spot if revised plans are approved.

Harrison Brown put forward outline proposals in December 2023 to build 47 new homes between Pound Road and Paulls Lane at the western edge of Broadway, near Ilminster.

These plans were withdrawn by the developer in late March following critical comments from Broadway Parish Council, who argued the development was “poorly placed” within the village.

Brown’s company, Blue Spruce Properties Ltd., has now submitted revised proposals for the same number of homes – with Somerset Council expected to make a decision on the plans early in the new year.

The site lies on the eastern side of Pound Lane, just over a mile from the Blackdown Hills national landscape (formerly area of outstanding natural beauty, or AONB).

Access to the new homes would be via a new junction on Pound Lane, with a pedestrian access onto Paulls Lane also being delivered to provide a route to local amenities within the village.

Affordable homes make up a third of new housing

Of the 47 homes planned for the site, 16 will be affordable – just under the council’s target of 35 per cent affordable housing for any new development of ten homes or more.

To reduce the risk of localised flooding, an attenuation pond will be created within the site to slow the flow of surface water.

The site lies within the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment area, meaning the developer would have needed to secure additional mitigation to prevent any net increase in phosphates from the new homes.

A spokesman for Boon Brown Architects (representing the applicant) said: “The proposed residential development has been carefully considered to provide an acceptable level of low-density development, set within an enhanced landscape setting."

Broadway and the neighbouring village of Horton have seen significant interest from housing developers in recent years due to their proximity to the A303 near the Devon/Somerset border, the A358 to Taunton, and the Blackdown Hills.

The council’s planning committee south approved plans for 35 homes on the northern side of Broadway Road in November 2023, with a decision pending on a further 28 homes on the Ding Meadow site, behind The Bell public house.

Both the council and the Planning Inspectorate have separately approved plans for 49 further homes on Broadway Hill in Horton, which could begin construction early in the new year.

Somerset Council is expected to make a ruling on the Pound Lane proposals in the spring.