Dozens of homes planned for Somerset beauty spot in Quantock Hills

Somerset residents living in the Quantock Hills face a longer wait to see if dozens of new homes will be built on their doorstep. Strongvox Homes is currently constructing the Cricketer Farm development north of the A39 Cannington Road in Nether Stowey, on the northern edge of the Quantock Hills national landscape (formerly area of outstanding natural beauty, or AONB).

The initial development comprises 109 homes, with 16 being affordable as a result of a £1.5m grant from Homes England and £180,000 to offset the impact of the Hinkley Point C construction programme. The Taunton-based developer applied in June 2023 to expand this development with a further 58 homes to the north.

Somerset Council's planning committee north met in Bridgwater on Tuesday afternoon (May 14), with planning officers recommending that the plans be granted permission. But councillors ultimately voted to delay a decision until they had been given the chance to visit the site in person.

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If approved, the new homes will be built off the existing spine road through the site, connecting the second phase of the development to the crossroads with the A39, which was completed in 2022. Of the 58 new homes within this phase, 40 per cent will be affordable (the equivalent of 23 properties), with the homes ranging from one-bedroom maisonettes to four-bedroom houses.

Two new attenuation ponds will be created along the north and east of the site, with some green space being set aside for a possible orchard. As part of the development, around £490,000 will be provided through the community infrastructure levy (CIL) towards new schools or extending existing schools in and around the village, along with more than £23,000 for expanding or otherwise improving the Quantock Medical Centre on Banneson Road.

Parish council chairman Kevin Ferriday warned that the village was struggling to cope with the strain on its amenities caused by the first phase of the development. He told the committee: "We are already working to integrate residents of phase one of this development.

"Should this application be approved, the ability of the community to absorb this additional expansion would be difficult without gravely threatening the sustainability of our village. We are not wholly opposed to development, but we are fully opposed to development at the pace at which it is taking place.

"One shop has shut, our Post Office is in the process of closing, and there is a lack of local employment opportunities and public transport." Nether Stowey is expected to provide a minimum of 75 new homes by 2032 under the Sedgemoor Local Plan - a total which has already been exceeded.

In addition to the Cricketer Farm site, F. & G. Jeanes & Sons Ltd. is seeking permission to build 83 homes and a retail unit north of the A39 Long Cross, less than a mile west of the Strongvox site. Strongvox is currently delivering homes at numerous sites across Somerset, including 40 homes on Lympsham Road in Lympsham (which were approved by Sedgemoor District Council in July 2022), 38 homes on the B3139 Blackford Road in Wedmore (approved in March 2021) and Paddons Farm in Stogursey (a stone's throw from the Hinkley Point C site).

Councillor Alan Bradford (who represents the neighbouring North Petherton division) said he was concerned about how a three-storey block of flats within the site would impact on the views to and from the Quantock Hills. He said: "The AONB isn't very pleased with what's happening here - and if you really want to wind them up, you should put a three-storey building up.

"We're between a rock and a hard place. We know how rents are being driven up with the housing demand for Hinkley Point people all around Bridgwater and the whole area - the local people can't really afford it. I do ask that this three-storey building be looked at again. There has to be a little bit of give and take in life."

Councillor Brian Bolt (whose Cannington division includes the site) agreed, stating: "Three storeys does seem out of keeping with what's around in the area - it's like putting a block of flats in the middle of the countryside." Councillor Bob Filmer (Brent) added: "Because of the sensitivity of this site, I think it would be wise to have the opportunity of a site visit before we make a decision."

After around an hour's debate, the committee voted unanimously to defer a decision on the plans until a site visit had taken place.