NEW low-cost homes will be built near a major employment site in Somerset following the unanimous backing of local councillors.
SHAL Housing Ltd owns and manages more than 750 homes within the former Sedgemoor district and beyond – including 11 properties within the Liddymore Park development currently being constructed in Watchet.
The housing association, which is based in Bridgwater, applied in June 2022 to build 14 new low-cost properties on Lavers Close in Woolavington, less than a mile from the Gravity enterprise zone.
Somerset Council’s planning committee north voted on Tuesday afternoon (January 16) to unanimously back the plans – meaning construction could get under way later this year.
The new homes will be built to the south of the existing homes on Lavers Close, within walking distance of the village’s medical centre.
Each of the new homes will be offered at affordable rent (i.e. below the market rate), with grant funding being levered in from Homes England to support the construction.
Every property will be equipped with solar panels and air source heat pumps in a bid to keep the new tenants’ energy costs down, with 35 parking spaces being provided.
Following the approval of separate plans in May 2023, walking and cycling facilities along Woolavington Road will be enhanced, making it easier for residents to access both the Gravity site and the neighbouring village of Puriton.
Woolavington Parish Council had objected to the plans, arguing that a separate development of 175 homes on the B3141 Woolavington Hill (which was approved by Sedgemoor District Council in September 2020) would provide sufficient affordable homes to meet local needs.
Chairman Alan Sharp told the committee in Bridgwater on Tuesday afternoon (January 16): “We understand and accept the need for development, but – and it is a big but – this has to be appropriate within the local context and within council policy.
“We believe that the necessary policy trigger point has not been reached. The Wainhomes plans already commits to the delivery of 53 affordable homes.
“There has been no meaningful decision between the parish council and the applicant.”
Despite approval being granted for the Wainhomes development more than three years ago, construction on the new homes – or the promised roundabout on the A39 Bath Road – has yet to get under way.
The site of the new SHAL homes is currently on the western edge of the village – but it could eventually be surrounded by other homes under plans for a further 1,400 new properties put forward by Persimmon Homes Severn Valley.
Councillor Alan Bradford (North Petherton) spoke warmly in favour of the plans, stating: “What a lucky place Woolavington is to have a development like this.
“Car parking, solar panels, they’re not pushed in too tight – many villages would cut their hands off to get developments like this.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve the plans after around half an hour’s debate.
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