PLANS for a large housing estate on the edge of Nether Stowey have been scaled down after local concerns about the amount of new homes with which the village infrastructure could cope.

Agricultural firm F and G Jeanes and Sons Ltd originally applied to build 83 homes on 10 acres of fields off a 40 mph stretch of the A39 running through the village.

But now, the company, which is run by the family of parish Cllr Andrew Jeanes, has reduced the number of properties to 57.

Developers Strongvox Homes is already building 109 new properties on a nearby site at Cricketer Farm and has applied to extend the estate with another 58.

Planning agent James Venton, of JV Planning and Building Design, said the F and G Jeanes proposals would respect the existing village character.

Mr Venton said the plans included a ‘stunning village green to encourage social interaction’ and a retail unit on the A39 frontage to be used a shop or general store to replace facilities which the village had lost in recent years.

He said 23 of the new properties would be ‘affordable homes’ compared to 34 under the original proposals.

Mr Venton said: “The key behind this application being put forward relates to an existing proven affordable housing shortfall, together with a proven need to provide the village with an alternative retail option.”

But the plans have been opposed by parish councillors who said it was ‘a bigger development than Nether Stowey wants or needs’.

Parish councillors said the site had not been included in the local plan for Nether Stowey and the village had already seen nearly double the minimum housing development expected in the period to 2032.

Somerset Cllr Mike Caswell said he fully supported the parish council’s recommendation for the F and G Jeanes application to be refused.

Cllr Caswell said he was not convinced the company would achieve the proposed number of affordable homes unless it was made to build them before completing any open market housing.

He feared the company would play ‘the affordability card’ and abandon the quota ‘as they did before’.

Cllr Caswell said a play area was vitally important to the village and would need to be a condition of any approval to prevent it being removed because of any ‘viability’ argument.

“The applicant has history of removing promised infrastructure on the grounds of ‘viability’, this must not be allowed to continue,” said Cllr Caswell.

The plans have seen nearly 140 letters from local residents expressing their views, many of which were opposed to the development.

One resident, Lesley Daveridge, told the Free Press the village’s Castle Stores had closed two-and-a-half years ago and the Post Office was for sale because of retirement and could be shut if it was not sold.

Mrs Daveridge said: “Kilve Post Office is also up for sale and our nearest Post Office is Williton and if you have not got a car that is difficult.

“The schools are full and need extra facilities and the doctors, instead of two days to get a prescription, have gone to four days, and there are long delays to get appointments.

“It has never happened before in 32 years and because of the influx of new homes it is getting worse.”