Same planning inspector used ‘to assist efficiency’

THE Planning Inspectorate has defended its decision to appoint a planning inspector who approved two Somerset housing developments in the same town within a two-month period.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local democracy journalist

Inspector C. Butcher was appointed in mid-2025 to rule on plans for 46 homes on the B3152 South Street in Castle Cary - plans which Somerset Council’s planning committee south had voted to refuse in January the same year.

Mr Butcher was subsequently appointed later the same year to rule on Abri’s long-held plans to build 27 homes on the Foxes Run site in the same town - a site which allegedly contains an unexploded bomb dating back to the Second World War.

Both appeals were conducted through written representations rather than in-person public inquiries, with Mr Butcher visiting both sites at least once - and ruling in the developers’ favour in both cases (November 2025 and January 2026 respectively).