It could be back to the drawing board this week for the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, as plans for a brand new Primary School and 188 new homes on land to the north of the White Post have been refused by Mendip District Council.

The Council ruled that whilst not opposed to the proposed new school, the housing development would have a harmful impact on the existing countryside, and whilst the benefit of the school gave the application some weight, it states an imbalance between housing and employment as one of its reasons for refusal.

It is not yet known if the developer will appeal the decision, arguing that the inclusion of the school forms a significant material consideration that should outweigh the harm identified in the scheme. The report, which contains the refusal recommendation by Mendip, notes: ‘Were the application for the school alone, the balance between the need for development and its harm would clearly be more in favour of the school.

‘The dwellings are not justified as being necessary to directly fund or enable the school, but they are effectively the price that the developer seeks to allow his land to be used.’

Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Westfield and Chilcompton Parish Councils and Midsomer Norton Town Council all recommended refusal of the plans, and Chilcompton also submitted the views of local GP, Dr Nick Jones, who publicly spoke out against the detrimental effect of increasing patient numbers in the area without provision for local health services. B&NES’ own Planning Department also recommended refusal.

The White Post application came forward after the Norton Hill Schools Partnership was approached by B&NES due to a shortfall in primary school spaces by 2017, due to increased housebuilding. There will also be a shortfall of places in villages in the north of Mendip.

This then saw a successful bid by the Norton Hill Academy Trust for a mainstream primary school under the Free Schools programme, supported by the Education Funding Authority. The new school is due to specialise in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

In the current absence of a site, B&NES says it would have to expand an existing school or schools in Midsomer Norton. The Free School could open with a temporary site for the first year, whilst another site is found.

Mendip doesn’t hold back in its report, stating that the Developer, Waddeton Park Ltd, already has undeveloped land west and east of Silver Street, which it views as having potential as a site for the new school. It remarks that land west of Silver Street is safeguarded in B&NES’ draft Placemaking Plan for educational uses, but the developers claim this is not available, also stating lack of pedestrian connectivity on Silver Street as a reason. The land to the east of Silver Street has a restrictive covenant, which reportedly prevents the development of a large proportion of the land.

Discussing the decision, a Council spokesperson for Midsomer Norton Town Council said: “Our key objections were that the additional houses would put unacceptable pressure on the area’s infrastructre, that the area was outside the housing boundary, that it did not comply with Mendip’s plans to meet housing demand around its own established settlements and that the proposed access to the east did not recognise the unsuitability of Silver Street in its current form to cope with additional traffic and lack of pavements.”

A spokesperson for Stratton- on-the-Fosse Parish Council, which strongly opposed the plans, said: “We are delighted that the application has been refused by Mendip District Council. Its Planning Officer’s report is very detailed and makes interesting reading.

“Although the Parish Council was not originally consulted on the plans by the Developers, despite it being in our parish, we did ask the Developer and the Educational Trust representative to hold a meeting with us and our parishioners.

“From the initial advertorial published in the local press, many in Stratton saw the proposals as a ‘done deal’. We are pleased that the Planning Officer has upheld our thoughts along with those of B&NES, Chilcompton, Midsomer Norton and Westfield Councils.”

Dr Mark Thompson, Deputy CEO of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, said: “We had hoped to open the school next summer, so this decision is a setback for us. The school still has official approval to open, but of course this cannot now be in September 2017. We are most disappointed on behalf of the many families who wanted their children to join us then.

“The Norton Hill Primary School remains an exciting and much needed project locally in view of the need for school places in the area. We will now look at our options to move the project forward, so that we can open as soon as possible.”

Simon Steele-Perkins, Director of Waddeton Park Ltd, adds: “We are surprised and disappointed at the decision of the Planning Officers at Mendip District Council. Given the huge amount of time spent and the positive discussions over a very long period of time, we find this decision very hard to understand.

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“This will have a significant adverse impact on the school, parents and children locally and flies in the face of two key pillars of planning – namely housing delivery and school delivery. We are currently reviewing our next steps with the school and the EFA.”