PLANNING approval has been given after a wait of more than four years for a huge new housing and business park development in a West Somerset village.

The plans for up to 350 houses in Williton plus 11,000 sq ft of business and light industrial units were submitted in January, 2020.

The former Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) approved the principle of the scheme on 70 acres of farmland off Priest Street in November, 2021, but the permission has only now been issued.

Applicants the Wyndham Estate now has two years to reach agreement on details of the layout, scale, appearance, access, and landscaping for the estate.

SWT in 2021 also ruled a section 106 legal agreement first had to be secured to ensure 122 of the properties were ‘affordable homes’ to buy or rent, and nearly £9.2 million of funds were promised to improve local highways and road safety, public transport, walking and cycleways, play areas, GP facilities, and schools.

The council limited the development to a maximum of 350 homes to ensure Williton’s existing infrastructure was not overwhelmed.

Developers Lovell will have to provide new allotments for the village once 200 of the new properties were occupied, and the business premises will be restricted to offices, research and development, and light industrial uses.

Ten per cent of the dwellings will have to be built to a standard where they ‘are capable of easy adaptation to meet Lifetime Homes Standards’, meaning residents should be able to continue independently living in them as their needs change with age or infirmity.

A community engagement event was held in Williton for residents to learn about plans to build up to 350 new homes off Priest Street.
A community engagement event was held in Williton for residents to learn about plans to build up to 350 new homes off Priest Street. (Savills UK)

The plans had been opposed by Williton Parish Council which said the village would face an ‘excessive amount of housing’ with 90 already approved for Aller Mead and potentially 150 next to Danesfield School, making a total of 590 against the local plan allocation for only about 406.

SWT then-planning officer Jeremy Guise said the new development could be expected to see 1,000 new patients register with the local medical centre, which with other planned development could reach capacity by 2032.

Mr Guise said originally the Wyndham Estate was proposing to build a new GP surgery for Williton but this was amended to a £120,000 contribution toward expanding the existing practice.

He said taking all the village’s various housing proposals together, the population of Williton could surge by 50 per cent to 3,902 during the local plan period.

However, Mr Guise said the SWT planning policy team had not raised any concerns and there had been only 27 objections raised by the public.

Mr Guise said at the time of the 2021 approval: “There is a longstanding expectation that the site will be developed.

“It is clear from the supporting information supplied with the application that the developable part of the site is capable of accommodating the 350 houses proposed.”

Thrive Architects said on behalf of the Wyndham Estate the development would provide a high-quality residential neighbourhood sitting in harmony with its natural environment together with ‘substantial community benefits’.