A NEIGHBOURHOOD plan has been adopted by residents in Oake to help shape future development in the village.

Parish councillors and villagers have worked since late 2017 to create the neighbourhood plan, which identifies key characteristics of the village which should be protected and enhanced in the wake of any new housing.

Somerset Council has formally ratified the plan following a village referendum where residents voted overwhelmingly to support it.

The neighbourhood plan will now be considered when Somerset planners take future decisions on planning applications.

It covers the entire village together with neighbouring Heathfield, Hillcommon, and Hillfarrance.

Although it does not allocate any sites for new residential or commercial development, a design guide is included to ensure any new homes will blend in with the existing character of the village.

The plan also highlights a number of green spaces which should be protected from development, including the primary school playing field, and includes an aspiration for improved walking and cycling links within the village and to Milverton and Norton Fitzwarren.

However, Somerset Council planning service manager Kate Murdoch warned neighbourhood plans were defined by how well they met local need in the face of speculative applications.

Ms Murdoch said a key issue was whether the plans made sufficient allocations for new housing.

She said: “If they have made allocations, and the plan is less than five years old, and those allocations meet the local need, they have a greater weight in terms of protecting from speculative applications.

“The problem we have is many of our neighbourhood plans do not make any allocations, and that does not stop a speculative application coming in and being granted on appeal.

“That has happened nationally.”

Somerset Cllr Sarah Wakefield said small villages like Oake needed to move with the times and acknowledge a need for development where it met local need.