ALMOST 80 new homes could be built in Minehead to help meet the demand for both affordable and open market housing.

A deal between Somerset County Council, Magna Housing Association and Summerfield Developments could deliver a total of 33 two, three and four-bedroom homes to rent and 46 similar-sized properties for sale.

The sites of both proposed developments - land at Silvermead for the Magna scheme and the former West Somerset Community College farm unit for Summerfield - are owned by the county council.

And although the applications will be considered separately by West Somerset Council's planning committee next Thursday (August 25), councillors will be told they are linked.

Both developments are recommended for approval but planning officer Nigel Furze said that if the affordable scheme was rejected, the open market proposal should also fail.

In reports to the committee, Mr Furze said the authority would normally require 35 per cent of homes on any development in the town to be affordable.

But the linked proposals would deliver more than double the 16 homes that could be expected from the open market scheme on its own.

Figures available show that up to last month, a total of 715 applicants for homes to rent in the district had chosen Minehead as their first or second choice.

Of these, 423 had some form of local connection with the town, with 148 of them having lived in Minehead for more than ten years.

Their needs ranged from one bedroom through to five bedroom houses, with 646 applicants looking for 'general needs' accommodation and 69 requiring sheltered or extra care homes.

In contrast, just 143 vacancies were advertised by housing associations between April 2010 and the end of March.

A total of 41 of the properties let were in Minehead, with a quarter of them either sheltered or having other allocation restrictions.

The council's housing enabling officer will tell councillors next week that the figures clearly show that demand far outweighs the supply of affordable housing available.

The Magna scheme, which will include 47 parking spaces, will form a continuation of the existing Silvermead development - a care home and flats - that was built in the early 1980s.

The site lies to the north of Silvermead and adjoins the rear of properties in Marshfield Road and Spring Gardens and was previously a playing field for the college.

In his report, Mr Furze said that although the local plan sought to safeguard recreational and sports areas, the college had been given new and improved facilities as part of the New Horizons project that also delivered Minehead's new hospital.

However, conditions of approval include the need to improve the junction between Marshfield Road and Alcombe/Bircham Roads.

The Magna homes would also have to remain affordable for the future and would have to be built before all the open market housing was occupied.

However, the Summerfield development, on land just off Bircham Road, has sparked objections from its nearest neighbours at The Shires.

People living in the development of 13 bungalows commissioned their own consultant to look at traffic issues because access to the new homes will be via The Shires rather than directly onto Bircham Road.

But highways chiefs have rejected their concerns about increased traffic, stating that the existing development was always designed to serve more dwellings than it does currently.

They said Bircham Road was a designated county route and access onto it was strictly prohibited unless there was an overriding special need or benefit - which in this case could not be demonstrated.

In his report to councillors, Mr Furze said residents' concerns could be appreciated and that the new homes would result in a change to the current environment of The Shires.

However, increased noise from additional traffic or pedestrians would not be out of the ordinary for a residential area.

"The planning system is not in place to protect existing residents from change, but rather to manage development appropriately," said Mr Furze.

If the scheme is approved, Summerfield would have to pay £4,500 per home towards community infrastructure.

Minehead Town Council has objected to both schemes, raising concerns about highways access and increased flood risks.