More than 30 new homes approved for Monkton Heathfield site near the M5

MORE than 30 new homes have been approved near the M5 in Somerset – just down the road from the site where more than 1,400 additional homes are planned.

Brandon Jeffery applied in February 2023 to build 33 homes at Langaller Manor Farm on North End in Monkton Heathfield, near Taunton.

The site lies between the M5 and the second phase of the Monkton Heathfield urban extension, where Persimmon Homes South West and Redrow Homes are awaiting planning permission for an additional 1,450 homes, along with commercial space, a new school and other infrastructure.

Somerset Council’s planning committee west (which handles major applications in the former Somerset West and Taunton area) backed Mr Jeffery’s plans when it met in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (June 25) – with a decision on the wider Monkton Heathfield proposals expected to be taken in the autumn.

The new homes will be access from a new junction on North End, staggered to the west of the existing homes on Langaller Lane.

North End links the existing Monkton Heathfield homes to the neighbouring village of Creech St. Michael – where plans for 100 homes were granted by the Planning Inspectorate in February.

Under the plans, most of the existing farm buildings will be demolished and replaced with new dwellings.

Much of the existing buildings were damaged or “radically transformed” by a fire in February 2021, with several being described as being “in a state of ruin”.

Most of the existing farm buildings will be demolished under the plans. (Image: Reed Holland Architects)

The main exception to this will be the grade two listed farmhouse (which has been “regularly attacked by vandals”), with the developer intending to extend and renovate the property.

Because the site lies within the River Tone catchment, additional mitigation has had to be agreed between the developer and the council to prevent any net increase in phosphates on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

To overcome this issue, farmland in the Bathpool area of Taunton will be fallowed and eventually replanted as woodland, with the cattle who currently graze there being relocated to farmland owned by Mr Jeffery, who is based in Oakford in Devon.

Councillor Norman Cavill (whose Monkton and North Curry division includes the site) said that improved pedestrian access was needed through the site to complement efforts to create a “green necklace” around the various Monkton Heathfield developments.

At present, those wishing to cross North End have to contend with fast-moving traffic at either direction or a footpath with steep steps on either side of the carriageway.

He said: “There should be a good pedestrian access through this site, so you can come out of Langaller Lane on the level.

“You will then make it a disability-compliant walkway, which it can be the rest of the way, right around the 4,500 houses that will eventually be at Monkton Heathfield.

“We need a proposed link for the future into the development site south of Langaller Lane. There should be a quid pro quo.”

The land between Langaller Manor Farm and the redirected A38 was originally identified for employment within the initial stages of delivering the Monkton Heathfield urban extension.

However, Taunton Deane Borough Council voted in January 2019 to release part of this land for further housing, in light of phase one of the urban extension delivering fewer homes than had been anticipated.

Planning officers said that approving these plans “did not preclude” securing this pedestrian access when more detailed proposals for the new homes came forward at a later date.

Councillor Simon Coles, who chaired the meeting, said: “The green necklace is a really, really important and valuable part of the Local Plan in that area.

“We have a condition in place and we have access to the south with this, so I’m content with that.

“I would be very unhappy if we put ourselves in a position if we were stopping the green necklace from happening having spent the last 20 years of my life trying to make sure that it happens.

“It’s a hugely important part of the regeneration work around Taunton and I don’t want to see this missed by an error on our part.”

The committee voted unanimously to approve the plans after around half an hour’s debate.

A reserved matters application, detailing the design and layout of the new homes, is expected to come forward around Christmas.