67 new homes could spring up next to Somerset primary school

A decision on plans to build new homes near a Somerset secondary school have been pushed back by councillors.

Gleeson Strategic Land Ltd. applied in February 2021 for outline permission to build 85 homes on the Gold Well Farm site off Ashlands Road in Crewkerne, opposite Wadham School. The development – which was reduced to 67 dwellings following discussions with planning officers – came before Somerset Council’s planning committee south when it met in Yeovil on Tuesday evening (May 23).

But after around an hour’s debate, the committee voted to defer a decision until later in the year to allow more information to become available. The site lies to the north of the busy A30 Yeovil Road and a stone’s throw from the northern end of the Crewkerne Key Site, the first stage of which is currently being constructed by Taylor Wimpey Exeter.

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Under the proposals, 67 homes (of which 23 will be affordable) will be delivered along a snaking spine road between Ashlands Road and the northern edge of the site, with on-site mitigation for phosphates and a substantial amount of public open space in the centre of the development. Georgina Nelson of Origin3 (representing the Fleet-based developer) said that homes had been “omitted from the fields that were considered most visible”, with a smaller area of the site being allocated for housing.

Plans for 110 homes on the same site (with access onto the A30 rather than Ashlands Roads) were refused on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate in November 2014. Councillor Adam Dance, whose South Petherton and Islemoor division includes the site, said the issues raised at the appeal had “still not been addressed”.

He elaborated: “The traffic survey was done during the school holidays – surprise, surprise. Ashlands Road is very busy – there are parked cars all over the road, with parents dropping off in the morning and picking up in the afternoon.

“The proposed traffic regulation order to stop parking outside the school isn’t going to work. You all know that parents will have to drop their children off, there won’t be enforcement – and if they do the drop-offs on the A30, it will create more mayhem.

“The pavements down East Street are unlit, the walkways are dangerous and there are no cycle paths. Our doctors’ surgery in Crewkerne is at breaking point.

“We’ve been looking at getting support in, but there isn’t the infrastructure. You can chuck money at it as much as you like, but we cannot recruit doctors here in Somerset.

“You’ve seen the state of NHS dentistry, and the schools are also at breaking point.” Gleeson has provisionally agreed to provide nearly £321,000 towards new school places in the Crewkerne area, along with nearly £202,000 for play and recreational facilities and nearly £39,000 for NHS services.

John Hammond, the council’s lead specialist for build environment, admitted that the NHS had “historically not engaged terribly well” with developers to secure the funds that were needed to adequately deliver services. Councillor Mike Best (Crewkerne) said the plans would cause “more chaos than there is at the moment” and questioned whether waste vehicles would be able to safety enter and exit the site.

Councillor Evie Potts-Jones (Yeovil West) added: “I work at a school, and you’ve basically built a street across the road from a school where people can park – and they won’t park sensibly. They will abandon cars – it doesn’t matter if you’ve got yellow lines or a PCSO standing out there, they will park ridiculously.”

Councillor Sue Osborne (Ilminster) said the committee “was not in full possession of the facts”, and asked for a deferral for more information on the access and how parking along Ashlands Road would be prohibited. The committee voted to defer a decision on the plans by nine votes to zero, with one abstention.

It is not clear whether the plans will come back before the committee at its next meeting in late-June or whether the discussion will be held later in the year.

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