The news of the Government Inspector's dismissal of two planning appeals made by developer, Edward Ware Homes, has been welcomed with much relief and joy by Paulton residents.

The two appeals, to allow development at Boxbury Hill and Abbott's Farm, would have meant 171 extra homes in Paulton.

B&NES Councillor, John Bull, (Labour, Paulton) commented: "Paulton has more than delivered its fair share of new housing and, if allowed, these new developments would have put an enormous strain on the ability of our Infant and Junior schools to offer school places to local children. The increased amount of traffic would have put an intolerable strain on our roads, not to mention our local Doctor's Surgery."

B&NES' Core Strategy includes up to 12,960 homes to be built between now and 2029, with 2,470 of those in the Somer Valley.

Councillor Liz Hardman (Labour, Paulton) said: "I'm so pleased the Inspector has realised that we in Paulton and the Somer Valley have not only fulfilled our housing requirements for the Core Strategy but we have exceeded this number. To allow more housing would have resulted in an unsustainable and unbalanced growth in Paulton and surrounding areas. It's good to see some common sense being applied to the planning process."