There were angry exchanges at the Annual Parish Meeting of Stratton-on-the-Fosse on Monday evening, as developer, Simon Steele-Perkins, from Waddeton Park Ltd and Dr Mark Thompson, Deputy Head of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, were invited to explain more about plans to build a development of 188 homes on land at White Post with space for a brand new primary school. Residents were also told by the developer to expect the outline planning application to be submitted to Mendip District Council this week.
Residents from Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Chilcompton and Westfield spoke at the meeting, with the respective Parish Councils saying that they were “distressed” that they have not yet been consulted over the plans. Dr Thompson explained how the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership had been formed in the past, and why it is important to build a new school for the area.
B&NES Council originally approached the partnership, because by 2017, there will be a shortfall of spaces for
children in local primary schools, due to increased housebuilding and birth rates. The school submitted a bid to the Government, which was successful, with the Education Funding Agency, then charged with looking at options for land sites, with the partnership arguing that this was done confidentially through the EFA and so no local parish or town councils could be consulted at that time.
The land the EFA put forward is of interest to the developer, Waddeton Park, which would be purchased by them should planning permission be granted. The same company also has an interest in two other sites nearby, one next door at Charlton Park, which already has planning permission, and another near the rugby club at Norton Down, which would take housing of similar numbers. The White Post site is complicated due to boundaries, with both Mendip District Council and B&NES Council needing to be involved in the process and separate planning applications being submitted to each authority.
The main concern is infrastructure, with the fear of congested roads and local doctors’ surgeries at capacity. Should planning permission be granted, Waddeton Park has agreed to sign over the five acres of land for the school to the Government, who will then lease it back to the school.
The developer argues that the houses are not additional, as they had already been put forward as part of Mendip’s Local Plan as a potential site. When questioned on the pressures our local GP surgeries face, he said that he had been in conversation with Doctor Nick Jones, a partner at St Chad’s and Chilcompton Surgeries, who has publicly expressed his concerns on the pressures more housebuilding would bring. If local doctors can put forward a case for investment in the current surgery, or for a new one to be built, it would then be up to the local authorities to decide whether or not the developer should contribute.
Another planning application is rumoured to be going to Mendip this week for 165 homes in the field opposite the proposed land at White Post, which was previously refused, creating further pressure on the area.
Westfield Parish Councillor, Ron Hopkins, appealed for the developer and local authorities to have “a cohesive plan” and for “joined up thinking”, adding that due to the boundary issues, communities in B&NES would take the brunt of extra housing infrastructure problems, such as increased traffic on the local roads, not Mendip. Potentially, this particular area could end up with four new, large housing estates, with around 800 dwellings in total.
A Stratton-on-the-Fosse Parish Councillor expressed concern that the village could lose its identity, and double the number of residents. A local villager added that whilst she was not against the school proposals, it is the number of houses included in the development which they were objecting to. However, the commercial reality seems to be that there cannot be the school without the houses. She said: “The land is disappearing and people don’t feel like they are being supported in their communities.”
There was also a discussion about the loss of green field sites and agricultural land, with the developer arguing that whilst brown field sites were difficult and expensive to develop due to contamination and demolition work, that when they were in proximity to towns, they should be kept for employment instead.
Silver Street was also discussed, with many saying the road is dangerous and more should be done to link up the development, should it proceed. Midsomer Norton Town Council are due to meet this week to discuss.
Once the application is received by Mendip, there will be further consultation before a decision is made. Parish Councillors called for another meeting with the developer to discuss their fears for local infrastructure, with so many homes waiting to be potentially built.