A Highbridge resident has this week expressed says plans to build 47 new homes in the town will generate more traffic and out more strain on a ‘weak railway bridge’, making it ‘an accident waiting to happen’.
Developer Flower & Hayes has submitted plans to build a 14 two bed, 30 three bed and three four bedroom homes and 128 parking spaces on land to the north of Walrow Road in Highbridge, as reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Joy Russell from Walrow Terrace believes the main access point in and out of the site, which is a railway bridge on Walrow Road, is weak and may not be able to handle extra traffic from the proposed development.
“A lot of traffic passes over the Walrow bridge and there are already three junctions on it – Somerset Way, Walrow Ponds private fishing lane and Walrow Terrace – and a fourth so close to the brow of the bridge seems like madness.”
“The traffic surveys on the plan haven’t accounted for the extra traffic generated by the opening of the Aldi store, or the future development of houses in Isleport (400), Brue farm (550) or the proposed Lakeside development (120), Delta Engineering company site (95) or most recently the plans to create temporary living accommodation for hundreds of workers employed by Global Tunelling experts on the grounds of the Watchfield Inn who will be working at Hinkley Point over the next five years and even more temporary accommodation for other Hinkley workers at Edithmead Caravan Park.”
“Neither does it account for when the M5 and A38 gets snarled up and the whole of Highbridge becomes a car park, which it does more and more these days.Walrow is a narrow road with increasing parking problems not designed for this amount of traffic. The government actively encourage us to walk or cycle but it is a fearful section of road to negotiate and would be all the more hazardous with lorries to-ing and fro-ing during construction. When the roads are gridlocked how are emergency services going to get through?”
“Looking at the layout of the plan shows that the building company haven’t been as greedy as other developers would be and 47 houses in an area that size looks quite respectable, but it is on green land and the idea of an access point to the development coming down off this weak weight restricted bridge seems to be an accident waiting to happen.”
“Back in March on Good Friday over 20 trees, some with nesting birds, were felled in preparation for the development, four months before planning permission was applied for and this has caused damage by destabilizing the embankment to the railway bridge.”
“How can we stand by and watch such activity going on with no respect for our nature and wildlife? The developers assured the previous landowners that all work carried out would be sympathetic to the environment! I’m not on my own appreciating the little precious pockets of green that are left in our town and surely there are more brownfield sites that should be built on first.”
“Another major point to consider is the lack of infrastructure in the area and it is well known there are waiting lists for the local schools, at least a two week wait to see a doctor or dentist, pressure on our un-retained local fire brigade, no post office, cutbacks in the police department, etc. Surely this needs to be sorted first before any more houses are built.”
“Also, the drainage/water management of the site is based on unreliable information. Most winters we see that field flood because it is low lying and it seemed even worse this year after all the trees had been cut down. The surveys quickly showed that a natural soak-away on the site wouldn’t work as the water table was so high so the report suggests using underground chambers which would drain off by gravity when full, into the Worston South Culvert. With climate change and rainfall getting more intense and being in a flood zone, the water run-off even more houses, tarmac and paved areas, I feel they are being very ambitious in trying to control the water levels.”
“We have shared the Sedgemoor District Council planning application link on social media and need people to oppose the intended development as it affects the whole area, not just Walrow residents. SDC’s website has been regularly crashing as there is a 20 minute time-out so copy your comments to paste again if you have problems.”
“The case officer dealing with the application is on holiday and trying to talk to anyone who understands the project has proven difficult. SDC have only contacted Walrow Terrace and the road side of Somerset Way with letters so we are delivering flyers in the area to inform and engage with more people. Time is short, if you want to try and make a difference for your town please get involved now.
Town councillors spoke out against the scheme at their meeting on Tuesday, as we reported here.
