A LARGE new housing estate off the B3227 Taunton Road entrance to Wiveliscombe could be built if developer Bloor Homes wins planning permission.

The company has applied to Somerset Council to build 100 homes on 18 acres of land between Manor Farm and the Sandys Moor estate, which has 94 properties.

Bloor pointed to a ‘significant shortfall’ in housing delivery in Somerset and the Government’s desire to see 1.5 million new homes built nationally in the next five years.

It said the Wiveliscombe site could be developed within five years of approval, ‘making an important contribution to housing need’.

A new T-junction access would be built off the B3227, and a signalised pedestrian/cycle crossing and two bus stops.

Sixty per cent of the estate would be for ‘green infrastructure’ such as public open space, landscaping, and surface water management.

There would be pedestrian and cycle connections to the main road to promote accessible walking and cycling to local amenities.

Bloor said new residents would support the vitality and viability of amenities and bus services in Wiveliscombe.

One-quarter of the homes would be ‘affordable’ and there would be a mix of house types and tenures which were still to be determined, but would be tailored to meet local need and would not be more than two-storey in height.

A spokesperson for planning agents Origin3 said Wiveliscombe had seen recent growth along the B3227 with housing at Sandys Moor, a business area, a Wessex Water sewage treatment works, a solar farm, and an employment site adjoining the Bloor land to the west which had yet to be developed.

The spokesperson said: “The housing is set back from the B3227 frontage behind open space, which retains the openness across the site boundary when viewed travelling along the route.

“This openness maintains an appreciation towards the farm buildings across the space eastwards in particular.

“The housing areas themselves are structured into streets and nodal spaces, aligned to frame outwards views eastwards in particular, plus west to glimpse St Andrew’s Church tower.

“The scheme is structured around a main street which serves the scheme from B3227.

“From this run side streets which extend their axis to terminate in the surrounding landscape edges.

“These align with wider, framed, visual appreciation views into the surrounding landscape.”

Bloor, which described the proposed development as ‘modest’, said it was seeking outline permission to agree the principle of the new estate, and a separate application would be made at a later date for its detailed design.

It said an online public consultation on its proposals was held in June of this year and a presentation made to Wiveliscombe Town Council.

This resulted in 950 ‘unique views’ and 7,841 ‘page views’ and a total of 60 responses were received.

The main concerns were that Wiveliscombe was being overdeveloped and could not handle any more houses, its primary and secondary schools were at capacity, the town lacked services and its only GP surgery could not cope with existing demand, and there were speeding issues on the B3227.