EVERY parish council in Taunton Deane could potentially be at risk of unwanted housing development, a Wellington town councillor is warning.

It follows two planning applications in Rockwell Green for a total of nearly 300 homes in fields outside the current development boundary set out in the Deane council’s adopted core strategy to 2028.

One application, by Gladman Developments Ltd, was recently refused by the Deane council’s planning committee, while the other, from Wainhomes South West Ltd, has yet to be decided.

Despite the Gladman plans being turned down, town councillor John Thorne believes the company will take its case to an appeal, as could Wainhomes if it was also refused.

An appeal could see barristers arguing the pros and cons of the plans in front of a Government-appointed planning inspector who could overrule the Deane’s decision.

Cllr Thorne has therefore expressed concern to the Deane’s planning services portfolio holder Cllr David Habgood, that eventual approval for either application would put every community in the Deane at risk.

Cllr Thorne said: “While I am certainly no expert in planning matters, it seems to me the proposals expose every community in the Deane to the threat of unwanted housing development on almost any open land adjoining their current development boundaries.

“This is because the developers’ case essentially says the core strategy is not lawful because its claim to have a five-year housing land supply is flawed.

“The developers say it relies on sites which will not come on stream in that timeframe, so the development plan is flawed and unlawful, leading to a conclusion that sites such as the two at Rockwell Green must be approved in order to meet the legal requirement for a five-year supply.

“There is also an argument put forward that the Deane is failing to meet its targets for provision of affordable housing, and again this would mean that sites outside the development plan boundaries should be approved where they can contribute significant amounts of affordable homes.”

Cllr Thorne, who was elected to Somerset County Council this month, asked Cllr Habgood to call an urgent review of the Deane’s core strategy to assess whether it was sufficiently robust to resist the developers’ arguments.

He said: “I anticipate developers elsewhere will be following the progress of these arguments and may well try to put their own similar cases for sites all over the Deane.

“This puts every parish in the Deane at risk and I would suggest they should take an interest in what happens to these two applications.”