Residents living in High Meadows and Underhill Lane, Midsomer Norton, have expressed concerns this week alongside Ward Councillor, Barry Macrae, as Mendip District Council consults on speculative housing sites neighbouring B&NES, with the potential for large developments to be built in the area in years to come.

A number of potential housing sites within Mendip, but on the edge of Midsomer Norton, such as Underhill Farm, are being consulted upon, with such large pieces of land prompting fears that housing estates of around 200 homes could be proposed, with the impact being on B&NES’ infrastructure rather than Mendip’s.

Another such example is Mendip boundary land opposite the pending Charlton Park development, which could also be on a large scale.

Despite holding a consultation event at Midsomer Norton Town Hall in November, residents in the area of Underhill Lane say they knew nothing of the land being put forward for consideration in Mendip’s Local Plan to identify housing need, which is similar to B&NES’ Core Strategy, until signs were spotted on lamp posts in the area by the interested developer for this particular piece of land. The email address for the Midsomer Norton Ward Councillor, Barry Macrae, is incorrect and so no comments are likely to have been received. Residents say a potential development would not only affect Midsomer Norton, but neighbouring Clapton and Ston Easton.

Speaking this week, Cllr Macrae, (Cons., Midsomer Norton North), said: “The notice we have had from the developer interested in this land is totally unacceptable – to me, my community and to the Local Authorities. I firmly believe it shows a complete lack of openness and to our community’s detriment. We must have better infrastructure in place before anywhere in our area can shoulder these potentially big developments.”

B&NES Council is expected to object strongly to further development on its borders, however, Mendip is perfectly entitled to look at its options, as B&NES did previously, and the two councils have a statutory duty to co-operate on cross-boundary planning matters.

Other land being considered includes that mentioned opposite the White Post and the Charlton Park development, land at Frome Road, Writhlington and land west of the A367, Westfield. When B&NES was carrying out a similar exercise, it identified the potential for up to 200 houses on land south of Charlton Park and 360 at the White Post, with up to 600 west of Westfield Industrial Estate.

No decisions or recommendations have been made for any of the sites and whilst the official deadline to get comments in has been fixed as this Wednesday by 5 p.m., residents may still be able to submit their views by emailing: [email protected]

The maps showing the sites proposed under each local area can be found at: http://mendip.gov.uk/article/4314/Consultation-Documents

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

Areas that the plans could affect in future include Midsomer Norton, Binegar and Gurney Slade, Chewton Mendip, Chilcompton, Coleford, Ditcheat, Doulting, Faulkland, Holcombe, Kilmersdon and Mells. For more information, visit: www.mendip.gov.uk/localplanpart2