Housing plan refused over 'conflict and chaos' fears

A 35-home development in a Somerset village which locals warned would cause “conflict and chaos” on a narrow lane has been turned down.

Strongvox Homes had hoped to build the homes off Mead Lane in Sandford, in a field next to the Strawberry Line cycle path. But North Somerset Counci l’s planning committee went against the advice of their own officers to vote down the plans.

There are about 20 homes on Mead Lane currently. Local man Neil Richardson warned the planning committee at their meeting on June 12 that it was a “very narrow” 70-metre lane without passing places that was “blind at each end.”

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He said: “This will create conflict and chaos and it's likely to result in a tail onto the A368.”

But Chris Marsh of Strongvox Homes said the development would deliver “numerous benefits,” including a new public open space and 11 affordable homes. He said: “Strongvox will deliver a high quality scheme for this site.”

Council officers recommended the plans be approved, warning that there was a “high bar” for planning applications to be turned down over traffic impact concerns. They added that additional traffic created by the site would be less than one car every three minutes.

The site has also been allocated for housing in the council’s new drafted — but not yet adopted — local plan, the document that sets out where in North Somerset is suitable for development.

But Tom Nicholson (Green, Banwell and Winscombe) urged councillors to reject the plans. He said: “It seems a shame to me that we are developing a greenfield site. We have plenty of brownfield in North Somerset.”

He warned: “Access into the site along Mead Lane is an absolute joke. Its a very narrow very long lane.”

Strongvox said they would install a “new, lit, virtual footway on Mead Lane” but Mr Nicholson said: “I wouldn’t like to feel ‘virtually’ safe.”

Peter Burden (Portishead South, Conservative) called the plans “substandard” and said he had “a lot of sympathy” with the objectors, but warned that there could be problems if the council objected to the plans when there had been no objections to the inclusion of the site in the local plan.

Hannah Young (Labour, Clevedon South) added: “Are we setting the authority up for a substantial appeal bill?”

She said: “I’m really conscious of how desperately we need to build housing for a lot of our communities.”

Councillors voted 6-1 to reject the plans. Ms Young voted against the decision and Mr Burden abstained.

Speaking after the decision, Archie Forbes, the chair of Winscombe and Sandford Parish Council, said: “I think that decision is absolutely right. The lane is only three metres wide in places and its completely unacceptable to have a lane of this quality width servicing 35 houses.”

Because councillors went against the advice of their council officers, North Somerset Council rules say the plans must come back before the committee again for the decision to be confirmed. This usually happens at the next meeting of the committee.