PLANNING permission for a major housing development in Bishops Lydeard was deferred by Taunton Deane planning committee last Wednesday (October 10) after members decided that the developers had failed to meet the requirements of the parish council’s Neighbourhood Plan.

David Wilson Homes had applied for permission to build 173 homes and a new care-home around Taunton Road, leading into the village but Bishops Lydeard and Cothelstone Parish Council had objected to the number and type of houses and raised concerns about highway safety.

The planning committee unanimously recommended that there should be closer consultation with the parish council in order to produce a scheme more in line with the Neighbourhood Plan and more in keeping with the rural environment.

The developer had claimed that the site could deliver much-needed affordable housing to the village while the parish council believed that the development was too large and did not meet the demand for bungalows.

The committee heard that proposed homes would be built either side of Taunton Road, which links the village to the busy A358. Of the 173 homes, 43 would be affordable housing, comprising a 60:40 split between social rent and shared ownership homes.

The care home would be positioned at the north-western end of the site, opposite the entrance to King’s Yard.

Parish councillors told the committee that they were unable to support the application its present form and that it failed to meet the requirements of the council’s Neighbourhood Plan.

They believed there should be a substantial reduction in the number of dwellings to around 120 but an increase in bungalows from the proposed six. They also had “very considerable reservations” about the road layout, the lack of speed restrictions and the number of accesses onto Taunton Road.

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