AN alleged planning blunder may have caused months of traffic chaos in the centre of Wellington, says town councillor John Thorne.

Lorries and employees of bed manufacturer Relyon should be using a new relief road taking them around the town instead of through the centre, he said.

But the northern distributor road running through the Longforth Farm housing estate has remained unfinished despite a legal agreement requiring completion by developers Bloor Homes.

Now, Taunton Deane Borough Council’s planning enforcement officers are investigating an alleged breach of conditions which should have seen the relief road finished as soon as 150 homes were occupied.

Cllr Thorne said he was indebted to fellow councillor Andrew Govier for the discovery that about 170 Longforth Farm homes were now occupied, meaning the trigger point for completion of the relief road was reached some time ago.

Bloor Homes was given planning permission in 2012 for 503 two-, three- and four-bedroom houses and is currently marketing the properties at prices of up to £329,950.

The company signed a ‘section 106’ agreement with the Deane council the same year, consenting to completing the road from the B3158 roundabout through the estate to the Relyon site once 150 of the houses were occupied.

It also agreed not to do anything to obstruct Relyon’s lorries or employees from using the road to access the factory rather than going through the town centre.

Cllr Thorne said: “I was shocked when Cllr Govier revealed we were well past the point where this relief road should have been finished.

“It will make a noticeable difference to the amount of traffic coming through the town centre but it seems the developers are content to pocket their profits from house sales while watching motorists sit in traffic jams.

“Unfortunately, the Deane council has a miserable record when it comes to enforcing planning conditions so I really do not hold out great hope of this being sorted any time soon.

“In the meantime, I am continuing to discuss with the county council portfolio holder the issue of the traffic lights outside the Waitrose supermarket which are causing unacceptable traffic jams.”

Cllr Andy Govier said: “The developers have a planning condition which means they need to ensure that a road of a suitable standard is provided up to the boundary of Relyon.

“The road has been constructed but there are some issues with the layout at the factory end that need to be resolved. I arranged a meeting with management of the factory, officers of Somerset County, Taunton Deane Borough and Wellington Town councils on December 12 to look at progressing the next phase of the project.

“Although Relyon are clear that the proposed road will bring benefits to the company and the local community they wanted reassurance about a couple of issues before investing a considerable sum of money in creating a new entrance to their factory.

“The meeting was constructive and a clear way forward has been identified.”