ONE hundred new homes will be built on the edge of a small Somerset village despite fears of localised flooding.

Martock LVA LLP put forward outline plans in April 2021 to construct the new homes on Coat Road at the north-western edge of Martock, opposite the Coat Grove estate of 120 properties recently delivered by Barratt Homes.

Somerset Council’s planning committee south (which handles major applications in the former South Somerset area) voted in December 2023 to delay a decision until more information on flood prevention had been provided.

The same committee voted on Tuesday afternoon (January 30) to approve the plans, despite locals feeling their concerns had not been adequately addressed.

The development is one of more than 50 in the former South Somerset area which has been held up by the phosphates crisis, along with the extension of the neighbouring Lyndhurst Grove estate, where Larkfleet Homes is planning to erect a further 35 houses.

In addition to the new homes, the developer intends to create new open green space, an orchard and woodland at the western edge of the site, to prevent Martock from merging with the neighbouring hamlet of Coat.

The phosphates issue will be overcome in two ways: the installation of an on-site package treatment plant by Albion Water, and the purchasing of phosphate credits generated by fallowing farmland in the Blackdown Hills.

The developer has promised to provide just over £1m for local school places, comprising nearly £154,000 for the early years provision at Martock Church of England Primary School on Elmleigh Road, more than £546,000 for the primary school’s main provision and just over £348,000 for Stanchester Academy in the neighbouring village of Stoke-sub-Hamdon.

In addition, the 30mph speed limit on Coat Road will be extended beyond the entrance to the new homes, making it safer for pedestrians to walk into the village.

But Martock flood coordinator Gordon Swindells said he was sceptical that the planned drainage work within the site would make much difference in light of new homes elsewhere within the River Parrett catchment area.

He told the committee in Yeovil on Tuesday (January 30): “The developer’s supposed ‘safe route’ from the site leads onto narrow roads which are prone to flooding, as was the case in November and December. The attenuation features are in the flood plain from the nearby rhyne.

“Far too much floodwater is allowed to flow from the upper catchment, which causes the highways to become impassable. All the floodwater from the Brimsmore Key Site in Yeovil travels to Martock.”

The Brimsmore Key Site – where Wyatt Homes is currently delivering 976 new homes – lies near Ball’s Water and the Mill Stream, which carries water along the A3088 Cartgate and under the A303 to Martock, shortly before its confluence with the River Parrett.

The Martock Neighbourhood Plan identified the development site as an possible area for housing growth; however, it recommended that it could only deliver 50 homes, and that it should not be developed until after the current South Somerset Local Plan ends in 2028.

Local resident Anthony Phillips said this request should be honoured by the council to ensure the “true impact of the other two Coat Road developments will be clear.”

Councillor Martin Wale – whose Chard North division could soon see nearly 300 new homes – added: “It seems to me like the Neighbourhood Plan, which they’ve gone to great lengths to have, is being ignored.

“We’ve been told there’s an area at the north-east corner which is liable to flooding, and we have evidence of the southern side of Coat Road flooding down where the new estate is. I’m having great difficulty in approving this.”

After nearly two hours’ debate, the committee voted to approve the outline plans by six votes to one, with three abstentions.