PLANS have been submitted for 16 new homes to be built in an Exmoor village to meet demand for housing for local people to be able to remain in the national park.

Cherwyn Developments Ltd, a Taunton-based ‘micro developer’, wants to build the properties behind the Moorland Hall, in Wheddon Cross, on nearly two acres of Dunkery View Farm, with one on a site a third of a mile away.

The project has been put forward following a housing needs survey by Exmoor National Park Authority and the former Somerset West and Taunton Council covering the eight parishes of Cutcombe, Exford, Exton, Luccombe, Luxborough, Timberscombe, Winsford, and Wootton Courtenay.

A block plan of how new housing would fit behind the Moorland Hall, Wheddon Cross. IMAGE: Reed Holland.
A block plan of how new housing would fit behind the Moorland Hall, Wheddon Cross. IMAGE: Reed Holland. ( )

The survey showed nine affordable homes were needed within the national park varying from single person one-bedroom accommodation to family three-bedroom properties.

It also revealed a further 13 households in ‘local affordable housing need’, 10 of whom wanted to live in Cutcombe itself.

Now, Cherwyn has proposed nine of the new properties should be ‘affordable units’ with the other seven sold on the open market to financially cross-subsidise delivery of the affordable housing.

Planning agent Andy Reading, of Polden Planning, said the project was classed as ‘a rural exception’ to the usual planning policies because an identified local need existed.

Mr Reading said the new properties would include one to three bedrooms for rent through an affordable housing registered provider, with the mix and tenure agreed with council officers during the planning application process.

A public consultation on plans for new housing in Wheddon Cross was held last year. PHOTO: Golden Planning.
A public consultation on plans for new housing in Wheddon Cross was held last year. PHOTO: Golden Planning. ( )

He said they would all be prioritised to meet the affordable need of people with a local connection to the parish or an adjoining parish.

The company would also enter a legal agreement with the council to ensure the open market dwellings would be the ‘principal residence’ for others with a local connection.

Mr Reading said ongoing Homefinder housing register records indicated the need for affordable homes was continuing and growing.

He said the project in theory would see the Cutcombe parish population increase by 10 per cent, which was in line with its growth between the 2011 and 2021 Census counts

However, in practice it would be less because the new homes were partly meeting unmet and/or concealed needs within existing households.

Mr Reading said: “The nature and scale of proposed housing growth in the context of the wider national park is not considered to be significant or adverse.”

He said collectively, the development would provide a mix of one to four-bedroom properties across both affordable and principal residence market tenures and would include flats, houses, and bungalows.

All the properties would have air or ground source heat pumps to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, insulation and ventilation to optimise energy efficiency, including maximising solar gain and cooling, and electric vehicle charging points within garages or parking courts.

They were oriented north to south to maximise sunlight and daylight efficiencies where possible and would have water efficiency measures aimed at limiting consumption to 110 litres per person per day.

A new footway from the site to the village would also be built.