A major project to build 110 new homes in Highbridge is set to start after a scheme to protect the properties from surface water flooding was agreed despite strong opposition from residents.
Boklok Housing Limited secured detailed planning permission in December 2022 to construct the new homes between the existing Lakeside homes and the Walrow Ponds, extending the access road from the A38 Bristol Road.
Over 700 people signed a petition in 2020 against the sale of the public field between Lakeside and Isleport amid concerns about a loss of wildlife, a loss of public open land and over-development.
Under the outline plans – which were approved in February 2020 before Boklok acquired the site – no development on the site could begin until the developer had agreed a drainage scheme with the council to protect the new homes from surface water flooding.
Somerset Council’s planning committee north has this week approved a change in the legal agreement which will allow building work to begin – despite warnings from local residents that it will create “nothing but mayhem”.
The development site has been contentious for years, with local residents calling for it to be retained as a “green lung” in the wake of development elsewhere in the town such as at Isleport Lane and Brue Farm.
These calls ultimately fell on deaf ears, with Sedgemoor District Council’s Executive unanimously approving the sale of the land in July 2020 to the developer for £350,000.
Under the original legal agreement for the site (which was signed off in September 2021), no development could begin at the site until “a surface water drainage scheme for the site, based on sustainable drainage principles, has been submitted to the council and approved in writing.”
Boklok applied to Somerset Council to allow some work to begin on site before such a scheme was agreed in a bid to speed up delivery of the new homes.
The council’s planning committee north was informed on Tuesday afternoon (April 8th) that a drainage scheme had been agreed between the application being submitted in November 2024 and the meeting taking place.
Geraldine Stevens, who lives nearby, accused the council of lying and being “underhanded”, claiming that the views of local people had been wilfully ignored throughout the planning process.
She told the committee: “This was all started back in Covid, so hardly anybody knew about it and it all went through very quickly. We do not have the facilities for these properties – if you had all gone and had a look before deciding, you would have seen for yourself that it is dangerous.”
“The existing estate is very small – it was never built for any more building to go at the back. This has all been very underhanded. This is the most ridiculous spot to build houses – this is going to be nothing but mayhem. Start thinking about your local people rather than money.”
Stuart Jones, who also lives nearby, adds: “Lakeside has one entry and exit point onto the busy A38 – it is narrow and has tight bends.
“Boklok has been trying to sell this site for a number of years. We request a reappraisal of the whole application based on the dangerous and severe traffic difficulties this development proposes.”
Despite these concerns, the committee this week voted after less than 15 minutes’ debate to approve the changes to the plans by eight votes to zero, with two abstentions, notes the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
