MORE than 80 placard-carrying protesters attended a council meeting in Watchet as amended plans for a controversial housing development were considered.

They packed the venue in Watchet Visitor Centre and were joined by West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour as Savills presented revised plans on behalf of the Wyndham Estate for a 230-home Parsonage Farm development off Brendon Road.

Savills planning consultant Matt Tucker presented five revised plans showing changes to pedestrian and vehicle access points and modifications to the Doniford-Liddymore Road junction pinch point on the B3190.

The big question hanging in the air was whether Watchet needed another 230 homes with its population of only about 3,800 people and little employment beyond tourism.

It was pointed out that 97 properties currently stood empty in the town, some of them for up to 20 years, while another 108 were for sale, and about 400 more were already under construction.

Protesters wanted to know why prime farmland was being looked at when the larger former Wansbrough Paper Mill brownfield site had been sitting empty directly across the road since 2015.

Base for Life Watchet community interest company chairman Liz McGrath argued the need for ‘truly affordable housing’ on new developments, and said there was a ‘massive disconnect’ between local people’s wages, house prices, and rent.

Parsonage Farm Action Group spokeswoman Lucy Corlett Shaw said historically the Wyndham family had been ‘pillars of support for Watchet, helping shape the town we cherish today’.

Ms Corlett Shaw said the family now appeared poised to undo such a legacy through development at the cost of permanently destroying farmland, food security, countryside, and the town’s vital services such as schools and roads.

Cllr John Irven was aggrieved the town council had not seen the complex changes before the meeting.

He said with the B3191 coastal road remaining closed there was a need for a full qualitative assessment of the development's transport impacts on Watchet.

Cllr Peter Murphy highlighted how sections of the Savills plans, including health impact assessments, were already out of date.

He said Parsonage Farm was known to be prime agricultural land but surveyors for Savills gave it a low grading, seemingly to justify development.

Cllr Dave Westcott questioned who would manage the 35 per cent of affordable housing which had to be included and if it would be restricted to existing Watchet and Somerset residents.

Mrs Gilmour explained in her role as an MP she could comment on individual planning applications.

But, she said: “I am your voice in Parliament, raising these systemic issues on your behalf at the highest level.”

Mrs Gilmour said she had discussed with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander who should survey farmland for proposed developments.

She said: “In a forthcoming Bill, it is proposed that such surveys must be undertaken by an objective surveyor.”

Watchet Deputy Mayor Cllr Martin Brake, who chaired the meeting, said the town council would make a holding objection and reserve a right to make further comments after seeing the plans when they were fully submitted.