TEN large new homes will be built on a ‘very dangerous and dark road’ on the edge of Minehead despite town councillors strongly opposing the plans.

Somerset Council’s planning committee rejected the local opposition and approved plans by Acorn Homes (SW) Ltd, which had been trying since August last year to develop a small plot of land next to Minehead Cemetery in Porlock Road,

The Taunton-based developer - not to be confused with the similarly-named Acorn Property Group - previously delivered new homes in Periton Lane and The Shires, in Minehead.

Town councillors had reservations about flooding, road safety, the absence of pedestrian access to public transport, and a lack of affordable housing in the town.

They pointed out Minehead had just one GP surgery, no dentist prepared to take new NHS patients, and the town hospital’s minor injuries’ unit was regularly closed due to a lack of staff.

Local councillors also said proposed conditions for a Section 106 legal agreement with the developer were ‘woolly’ and ‘restrictive’, and it was unclear what was meant by the ‘direct vicinity’.

The site lies outside of the development boundary of Minehead at the south-western corner of the cemetery, between Porlock Road and existing homes in Home Meadow.

Access will be from Porlock Road, with the existing public footpath along the northern boundary being preserved and a new pedestrian link to the cemetery added.

A total of 38 car parking spaces will be provided within the site, with the homes being three and four-bedroom in size.

None of the new homes will be ‘affordable’, because planning policies mean developers only have to include them where 11 or more properties were being delivered.

Planning officer Richard Boyt said 30 new homes were originally proposed for the site, but the number was reduced after ‘negative feedback’.

Mr Boyt said the developer would be required to pay £50,000 toward sports/recreation and community buildings in the ‘direct vicinity’ of the scheme, which would be negotiable, and £5,000 toward the cost of reducing the speed limit on the road past the site.

Cllr Gwil Wren raised concerns about flooding near the site when the unitary council’s planning committee discussed the application.

He said: “The site is on a slope, it falls from south to north, towards the road.

“They are proposing to store surface water in tanks, but the planning conditions say these do not have to be designed or agreed until the first house is occupied, and I think that is too late.

“How is it going to maintain these tanks? I do not think this is a sensible solution at all.”

Both the Porlock Road site and the land to the south were identified for future housing within a strategic housing and employment land availability assessment carried out by the former Somerset West and Taunton Council, with the combined area expected to provide 55 new homes by 2032.

Cllr Andy Hadley, whose Minehead division includes the site, said: “Why are we building on agricultural land when we have already got building land identified in our local plan in Minehead? I cannot understand that.

“It is a mile from the town centre if you went down Porlock Road, there is no footpath down there.

“It is a very dangerous and dark road, with no lighting. I do not care if people say it is a 40 mph limit, drivers are doing 60 mph up there.

“To say that it has a safe and good access to the town centre is, in my mind, a bit of a fallacy.

“These houses are not affordable for the people who work in Minehead.

“We have a tourist economy with low wages, we desperately need affordable houses in Minehead.”

Cllr Rosemary Woods, who represents the Watchet and Stogursey division said: “I came with an open mind.

“I had a look at the site over the weekend, and it is not as steep as I thought it was.

“These are going to be bought by outsiders, I am not against that, but the local connectivity should be there.

“It would be nice if the town council would let people walk through the cemetery from this new estate to bring them into the town.

“If you walk on Porlock Road, you are taking your life into your hands. I would not walk along there.”

Dulverton and Exmoor division Cllr Steven Pugsley, however, said there were no reasonable grounds in planning law to refuse the application.

Cllr Pugsley said: “I think we all regret that they have decided to develop 10 large houses, but there is no compulsion upon them to do more than that.

“I cannot in truth see that there are very strong reasons that can be sustained for disagreeing with the proposal.”

The committee voted to approve the plans by a margin of seven votes to two.