A CONTROVERSIAL scheme to build 136 homes on a sloping greenfield site at Cleeve Hill, Watchet, was rejected in a shock decision by Somerset West and Taunton Council planning committee yesterday afternoon (Thursday).

Despite warnings from officers who had recommended outline approval that a refusal would be difficult to justify on appeal, a motion proposed and seconded by Watchet and Williton councillors Ian Aldridge and Loretta Whetlor was carried by four votes to two with three abstentions.

Only councillors who had attended the previous application hearing In January were allowed to vote on the day.

The development, first proposed two years ago, had brought over 60 objections from residents and public bodies including Watchet Town Council, and involved realigning the B3191 coastal road to Blue Anchor at an estimated cost to the developer of £28 million.

Most objections concerned the safety and stability of the site which is near land subject to landslips and erosion.

Cllr Aldridge proposed that the application was rejected because the developers had not submitted a ground-stability report which would have clarified the practicality and the cost of developing the site.

He added: “The district valuer has not taken the geological conditions of the site into account in assessing its value and the number of affordable houses – 37 is well below the policy requirement of 35 per cent.

“In addition, the difficult pedestrian access to local services from the site will encourage private car use contrary to council policy and the dependence on the public highway being realigned as part of this development is not acceptable, and failure to develop the site will result in the highway not being built, which is an essential part of Watchet’s infrastructure,” Cllr Aldridge told the committee.

The debate, which lasted nearly four hours, had not concluded by the time the Free Press went to print. A full report of what plan entailed is in today’s Free Press.