RESIDENTS have hit out at a potentially ‘smelly lagoon’ a farmer wants to develop on his land.

Cannington Enterprises has applied to create a new digestive lagoon – which is used to treat animal waste – on the fields at the bottom of Horsey Lane.

But neighbours to have previously objected against the development are worried it will be pushed through without them being consulted.

In 2013 a group of residents protested to Somerset County Council’s regulation committee and managed to get the application turned down.

But this time the application comes under an agricultural development as opposed to waste, and therefore the process is much quicker and could be decided on within 28 days.

One Horsey Lane resident, who campaigned against the 2013 application, said: “At the moment we get a burst of tankers when the waste is to be spread on fields. The smell, although bad, is temporary. Although a nuisance, it is short term and part of living in an agricultural location.

“However, if the lagoon was to go ahead, the tankers would be much more frequent and throughout the whole year. The smell of the waste nearby would smell all year.”

She worries not only those in Horsey Lane, but also properties along Bath Road and Puriton Hill will be affected.

Another resident commented: “Believe me, the stuff that goes in those lagoons does stink – I live right next door to the place that produces it and have put up with the horrendous smell.”

However Tim Roe, manager of Cannington Enterprises, says their concerns are unwarranted.

“We put special covers on top of the lagoon which controls the odour and keep it be a minimum,” Mr Roe said.

“In fact it gives us more control and means we can move the product outside of peak times, avoiding putting our tractors on the roads during the busy school runs.

“I understand some people have concerns, but I want to allay those concerns and have offered opportunity for anyone who wants to come and see a similar lagoon at one of our other sites to do so.”

A spokesman for Sedgemoor District Council said: "The County Council (as Waste Authority)  has accepted that, on the basis  it is being used as fertiliser on agricultural land, the digestate is not waste.

"Accordingly the District Council has been notified under the permitted development regulations of the intent for create a lagoon to store digestate for use as fertiliser for agricultural purposes on this holding.

"This notification is not subject to any requirement to consult and we have only 28 days to determine or deemed consent is granted. Therefore our website does not invite comments, nevertheless any observations received up to the point of determination will be considered. However as a notification the only consideration is the chosen siting in terms of visual impact. We can’t consider the other normal planning issues e.g. highways, pollution, disturbance, etc. 

"The agricultural notification procedure is set out by national legislation and is very different to the normal planning application procedure. It is intended to enable working farms to exercise their permitted development rights to erect operational buildings and carry out operational works reasonably necessary for agriculture."