'No' to low-cost homes

PLANS to deliver new low-cost homes in Glastonbury have collapsed following a vote by local councillors.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local democracy journalist [e-mail]

Mendip District Council entered into a partnership with Aster Housing in November 2020 to deliver up to 160 low-cost homes across five different sites in Frome, Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet and Street.

Aster Housing (which is based in Devizes in Wiltshire) submitted plans in November 2021 to build six homes on the Norbins Road car park in Glastonbury - six months after proposals for 77 homes on the Easthill site in Frome were withdrawn following public outcry. Somerset Council (which replaced the district council in April 2023) has now narrowly refused the proposals, arguing the development would lead to traffic issues elsewhere in the town.

The 52-space car park lies to the east of Norbins Road, within walking distance of St. John the Baptist’s Church, the Jumping Johns Nursery and the town’s library. The proposed development would have seen six two-bedroom houses delivered on the brownfield site, all of which would have been offered at social rent.

A total of 14 parking spaces would be retained within the site, with 12 being allocated for residents and two for visitors. A decision on the plans has been significantly delayed as a result of the ongoing phosphates crisis, with developers having to secure additional mitigation to prevent any net increase in phosphates on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

To offset these new homes, Aster intended to purchase phosphate credits generated by the removal of cattle from Manor Farm in Prestleigh, a short distance from the Bath and West Showground. The plans came before the council's planning committee east (which handles major application within the former Mendip area) when it met in Shepton Mallet on June 3.