Sedgemoor District Council’s Development Control Committee considered the application at a meeting in Bridgwater and gave the developers, Abracore Limited, the ‘green light’ to build the new development in Victoria Street.
The planning committee had sought community grant funding of £150,000 from Abracore – leading to a decision in June being deferred – as reported here.
But the developers said such a figure would not make the project viable and councillors have agreed a smaller deal that will see £100,000 of so-called ‘S106 agreement’ community funding be given to social housing in the town instead.
The council’s Affordable Housing Manager, Duncan Harvey, said: “The delicate economic status of this project and the prevailing economic climate has made it that much harder to commit funds to making a start-on-site. Reduced anticipated revenue from sales, linked with an expensive build cost both contribute to making this a finely balanced housing project.”
Our photos show how the site looks now (top) and how it used to look when the Tucker’s Garage was in place
