PLANS for a major housing development at the eastern end of Bridgwater have been given the go-ahead, despite concerns about traffic levels.

Winters and Edward Ware Homes applied for outline planning permission to develop land at the corner of Bower Lane and the A372 Westonzoyland Road.

The site forms part of the East Bridgwater key site, where “at least 1,200 houses” are earmarked under Sedgemoor District Council’s Local Plan.

The council’s development committee met in Bridgwater on Tuesday morning (June 5) to discuss the plans put forward.

The site is currently covered by “permanent poly-tunnels and glass houses”, owned by a local horticulture business, as well as site offices and hard standing for caravans used by the site’s occasional employees.

Of the 260 homes planned for the site, 30 per cent (78 homes) will be affordable – and of these, 85 per cent (66 dwellings) will be comprised of rented accommodation.

The developer will also undertake to build a new roundabout at the junction of the A372, Bower Lane and Dunwear Lane – with none of the costs of this being passed on to the taxpayer.

A new 30mph spine road will run off from the northern spur of the roundabout, moving through the middle of the site and eventually connecting with the A39 Bath Road to the north.

Bower Lane itself will be “superseded” by this new road and will eventually be downgraded to a “green route” for pedestrians and cyclists.

Alan Hurford, town clerk to Bridgwater Town Council, lives around 400 yards from the development site.

Speaking in a personal capacity, he said: “Bower Lane is a very busy road and a very busy junction – it’s used as a shortcut to the motorway. We need to make sure the infrastructure is in at the beginning of the development.”

Councillor David Loveridge said that he was “ill at ease” about the lack of detail in the plans, and asked whether their approval would mean that an eastern distributor road in Bridgwater would be out of the question.

Proposals were put forward in early-2016 to create such a road in Bridgwater, with Bower Lane and Dunwear Lane both being upgraded and the route connecting with the Colley Lane southern access road on the other side of the railway line.

The council’s planning officers responded that this project was not part of the Local Plan, was “nominally expensive and challenging” – with an estimated cost of £25M  – and would deliver “minimal traffic benefits” to the town.

Councillor Alan Bradford said that previous experience on the construction of Stockmoor Village “has got to be a learning curve” for the council in planning for extra traffic.

He said: “There’s cars, cars, cars everywhere. I’ve just come back from a week in Bromley and we’re lucky down here, believe me.

“There is a demand locally for houses and we’ve got to build them – the problem is that it takes too long. How long is it going to take?”

Councillor Andrew Gilling added: “I am delighted to see there is the possibility of 78 affordable houses within this scheme – we need affordable houses throughout this district, and I can only support this application.”

Councillor Paul Herbert criticised the plans to reduce the noise of the nearby M5 by putting a fence on top of a new bund, which would direct the vehicle noise over and away from the houses.

He said: “I’m a little disappointed that we’re going to stick a wooden fence on top of a bund, when Somerset is littered with trees.

“I don’t want us to be like London, whether there are fences all along the motorways – that’s no way to treat our community.”

In spite of the concerns regarding traffic, the committee voted unanimously to approve the plans.

A reserved matters application – which will detail the design, size and layout of the houses and the provision of green spaces – will be brought forward in due course.