MORE than 100 new homes will be built near Bridgwater’s motorway service station after permission was granted by Sedgemoor District Council.

Persimmon Severn Valley, which is based in Portishead, applied to build 111 homes on land to the north of Dawes Farm, opposite the busy services near Junction 24 of the M5.

The plans have attracted criticism from the local ward member and North Petherton Town Council, with the former branding it “a massive over-development”.

In spite of this, the plans were voted through by the district council’s development committee, which met in Bridgwater on Tuesday morning (April 10).

The new homes will be built between Willstock Way and the A38 Taunton Road, just north of the roundabout connecting the A38 to the services and the motorway.

The development will be accessed via Willstock Way, and the houses will be set back from the existing residential streets (including Charolais Drive and Muscovey Drive) via a “green buffer”.

Planning officer Dawn de Vries said that a number of the new homes would front onto Taunton Road, “forming a continuation of the existing frontage.”

Out of the 111 houses to be built, 33 would be affordable – just under the council’s 30 per cent target for developments built on greenfield sites.

North Petherton Town Council recommended the plans for refusal in March 2017, raising concerns about the design of the homes and the lack of infrastructure improvements.

Town clerk Rod Latham stated in his report: “The site is over-developed, there are no amenity areas provided and the choice and location of house types is poor.

“The local primary school is already over-subscribed. The design is clearly aimed at young families, but no provision has been made for the additional school places.”

The council added that there had been “insufficient consultation” on the proposals, and that further building work would “add to the recognised high levels already being suffered by people living in Stockmoor. ”

District councillor Bill Revans, who represents the North Petherton ward, said that the loss of the green space would “impact on the well-being of the community”.

He said: “There is significant loss of public amenity space, which many residents enjoy as a dog walking area and children use for play.

“It is also used by community groups, such as a fitness class and for general exercise.”

Mr Revans added that the design of the houses would be “overbearing”, that there was already “insufficient parking” in the area, and that Stockmoor was already “notorious” for its congestion without more homes being built.

He went on to say: “Both North Petherton and Somerset Bridge schools are at capacity and no further development should take place until a primary school is constructed at Wilstock and a secondary school site allocated for the North Petherton area.

“Local GP surgeries are excellent, but are starting to struggle to meet demand for appointments.”

Somerset County Council announced in January that four new or replacement schools would be built in the Bridgwater area, as part of a £140m programme to deliver 2,300 new secondary school places by 2023.

The precise sites of these four schools, and what proportion of them will be completely new, has not yet been determined.

The district council’s committee voted to approve the plans, subject to a Section 106 agreement being created to tie Persimmon Severn Valley to providing a play area on the site and hitting the 30 per cent target for affordable housing.

The council has also insisted that no work on the homes should begin until new pedestrian and cycle links to the A38 and Stockmoor Village have been approved.