Representatives from CARO (Chilcompton Against Rural Over-development) met up with James Heappey MP and agreed that the village should continue their struggle against unwanted housing developments.

In a frank and full

discussion lasting ninety minutes at the Holy Cow café, the MP for Wells told the group: “I will do what I can to assist you.”

Mr Heappey was aware that in recent years the village had more than

satisfied its quota of housing. He said: “Chilcompton has taken a significant amount of development in the last ten years and therefore, I agree with the community in questioning whether the village should be expected to take more. I hope the Inspector will respect the judgement of the local planning committee. Chilcompton has had the tap full on.”

When an Inspector has been appointed, Mr Heappey said that he would be writing to the person concerned to re-enforce all of CARO’s key messages.

He added: “I don’t want to see somewhere like this become a town of 20,000 or even 5,000 – it would be as big as Radstock.”

CARO spokesman, Rich Morgan, said: “It was very gratifying to hear the sympathetic and understanding words from James Heappey. It was clear that he comprehended our explanations and arguments about the sustainability of Chilcompton. We are a village and we want to stay that way – he understood and agreed with that.”

“This is a big step forward for us.”

With five major housing developments being pushed through, the villagers of Chilcompton are saying ‘Enough is Enough’.

Every house in the village has been leafleted to raise awareness about how these developments, totalling seventy-seven new houses, will affect the appearance and sustainability of the community. Posters showing solidarity have now sprung up all over Chilcompton.

Some of the applications are currently being decided by Mendip District Council, others are being reviewed by the national Planning Inspector. Three of the applications have already been rejected by the Inspector several years ago, but have now come back.

Rich said: “The school is full, the surgery is full, flooding is a constant threat and the narrow lanes are overstretched and dangerous. This is not NIMBYism – this is sustainability.”

The proposed housing developments are thirty-two houses in a field near White Hayes (The Street), an application for seven houses above Somer Lea, twelve houses in a field by The Grange (Parsonage Lane), a total of seventeen houses on Sestri Paddock, requiring road access onto Broadway and sixteen new large properties on agricultural land at Abbey Road/ Rock Road (Downside field). In addition, there is a large garage block under national review.