B&NES Councillors unanimously decided last Wednesday to give the green light to the reserved matters planning application for Radstock’s Area Three, as part of the town’s regeneration scheme. Outline planning consent was granted last January.

This means that Linden Homes can now start developing the ecologically sensitive site, providing 71 three, four and five bed open market houses after over a decade of discussion.

Campaigners against developing the railway land have argued that contamination, river safety and the privacy of nearby Meadow View residents are all issues on this section of land and many will be wondering how railway aspirations for this site will now be able to progress as a result of this decision.

Councillors Colin Currie (Radstock Town Council) and Eleanor Jackson (Westfield Parish Council) spoke against the application, with Gary Dando and Eleanor Jackson also speaking against the plans on behalf of the Meadow View Residents’ Association. Cllr Jackson described the development as “inappropriate urban design which would be transposed onto a virgin meadow”, and emphasised the need for safety in the Kilmersdon Brook area, which B&NES

officers will now be negotiating the management of with Linden Homes as part of their planning conditions.

Representatives from Linden Homes and the Norton Radstock Regeneration Company stressed that they needed to maintain the momentum of the scheme, which sees Area Two now completed and sold and that the viability of the site had been “very constrained.” A spokesperson for the developer said that every measure is in place to review contamination and drainage issues and had worked hard to satisfy the local authority.

Cate Le Grice-Mack, Chair of NRR, said at the meeting: “There has been significant time and effort spent to make sure these plans are appropriate and it is now very important that the Brunel Shed is brought back to use, as it is integral to the modern use of the railway land.”

Cllr Les Kew, who was chairing the meeting, reminded Councillors that the application had already been approved in principle, due to outline planning, with Cllr Paul Crossley, who was Lib-Dem Leader of the Council up until the election this year and had been pushing the Radstock and Keynsham regeneration schemes during this time, adding: “The scheme has moved with the times and is providing good quality homes, improved bus networks and facilities brought back into community use. As with any application, not everyone will be pleased, and certainly the railway lobby groups would like better, but you can’t have everything from the word go.”

Cate Le Grice-Mack added this week: “The NRR board is delighted to have received unanimous support from the planning committee for the reserved matters for Area Three.

“We can now build on the commercial and community regeneration of the town that has already started. We have been working for some time with the North Somerset Railway Company, (who presented a mock-up of their proposals at our consultation meeting earlier in the year) on a light rail option for the line towards Frome.”

Colin Currie, who is a Radstock Town Councillor and involved with the North Somerset Railway Company, said that plans to bring trains back to the town are part of a bigger picture, but that the decision last week was “a missed opportunity for the town.” Approval for Area Three means that the track will not be able to come into the town as far as some would have liked and will also mean that Radstock will not be able to have its own station.

“Our plans are to start at Mells, rebuilding the engine sheds,” he says, “Taking the line to Kilmersdon and Hapsford. Frome and Mendip Councils are very much behind us and we are looking to places such as Minehead and their success.

“But the idea is not really one of tourism or light rail. It would be fantastic to connect up to Westbury and then commuters could go on to London.

“Nobody can afford to spend money on the roads and with the building of Areas Two and Three, the main exits for the sites are going to be onto Frome Road, with potentially 400 extra cars using it. Bringing trains back would mean having transport on our doorsteps and alleviating the gridlock on our roads. This approval of Area Three was a sad day for Radstock, because it will not have a station now for the sake of 100 metres.”

Radstock Town Councillor, Gary Dando (Independent), added: “I thought the planning procedure was disgraceful. I didn’t feel the Chair put the right questions to the Councillors or to the Planning Officer. I’m very concerned about the brook’s retaining wall and why we can’t protect the rail corridor in full. You won’t compromise the buildings from the track being there.

“I want answers from B&NES and I want answers from NRR. The rail corridor could be the solution to our current highway gridlock and to ignore this is very short sighted indeed. All we are asking for is a platform and access, with a standard gauge line into the site.

“In my lifetime, railway corridors throughout the country have been built upon. That rail corridor needs to be kept open to allow us to connect up to the National Rail system – the economic benefits could be huge. It is time everyone woke up to the bigger picture and how this could benefit the whole of the Somer Valley. Our only real hope now on this issue rests with our MP.”