NEARLY 50 new homes may be built in South Somerset, near Ilminster if the revised plans are approved, and residents have come forward to share their mixed feelings about this.

Permission sought for nearly 50 houses near Ilminster

Harrison Brown’s company, Blue Spruce Properties LTD., has applied for planning permission for a residential development on the land between Paulls Lane and Pound Road, Horton, at the western edge of Broadway, near Ilminster.

This proposal includes the development of 47 brand-new homes.

This has arisen after planning permission was previously applied for by Brown in December 2023 and withdrawn in March 2024, due to comments from Broadway Parish Council, who claimed the development was “poorly placed.”

Somerset Council is expected to make a decision regarding the plans early in the new year.

READ MORE: Permission sought for new Broadway homes near beauty spot

An unhappy response

Residents have since come forward to share their predominantly negative views on the planning permission request, with many claiming they are “fully against” it.

“We are fully against this badly thought-out scheme which would be better served on a Brown site and rejuvenation scheme,” one such spokesperson said.

“Do not destroy any more green fields in our village. All this village has left is its green spaces, which are rapidly being built on,” another added.

In a letter to Harrison Brown’s company, someone went as far to say that the proposed development is “most unwelcome” and will “seriously adversely affect life in Horton and Broadway.”

They added that Broadway is “overdeveloped already” which has led to congestion and overstretched infrastructure and that the “vast majority of residents of Broadway and Horton will strongly oppose this development”.