CAMPAIGN group Protect Wellington and town councillors were this week preparing to defend the community from an unprecedented attempt to breach its A38 relief road development boundary.

Pegasus Group announced its intention to appeal against refusal of its planning application for 250 houses on farm fields on the Wellington Monument side of the relief road, referred as ‘south of Oldway Road’.

Somerset Council rejected the application in April and Pegasus has now started an online consultation on changes to its plans before it submits an appeal to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate by an October 30 deadline.

Protect Wellington said there were eight specific planning reasons for the application being refused, but the Pegasus changes focussed on only three - flooding, highway safety, and connectivity.

The council had also been concerned about water quality and phosphates, landscape and the Blackdown Hills, infrastructure and mitigation, loss of high-quality agricultural land, and the impact on Wellington Monument and its heritage

Spokesman Michael Pollak said: “The appeal is not unexpected, but what matters now is that the council’s eight reasons for refusal are properly examined and that Pegasus demonstrates, with real evidence, how its proposals have addressed them.”

Mr Pollak said Protect Wellington was not opposed to housing development per se, but believed new homes should be in appropriate locations, supported by the necessary infrastructure, and should not unnecessarily sacrifice productive farmland, the natural environment, or the town’s heritage and character.

It supported suitable brownfield development and more affordable and social housing, but believed the Pegasus proposal raised wider questions about roads, flooding, sewage, healthcare, schools, the environment, and the future character of Wellington.

Councillors meeting on Monday (October 5) will be asked if they want to respond to the Pegasus consultation and, if so, to consider a draft letter observing that the firm’s amendments did not address the ‘fundamental issues’ behind the refusal.