A PROPOSAL to build 450 homes in Ilminster has had to go back to the drawing board after it was rejected by the town council, the county highways authority, and Donyatt Parish Council.

The Canal Way application has also faced a number of objections from residents, with reasons including inadequate access to the proposed estate, inadequate facilities in the town to deal with the additional occupants, and whether the site can cope with the number of homes.

Simon Perks, regional managing director of Persimmon Homes South West, said: “Following feedback from SSDC and residents, we are currently working on an amended plan.

“This development will create much-needed homes in Ilminster, as well as hundreds of jobs.”

A spokesman for SSDC said: “We are currently awaiting the Highway Authority’s updated response in regard to additional info that the applicant has sent to them. The Highway Authority previously raised concerns about the access and emergency access.”

Somerset County Council’s planning liaison officer said: “When considering the main entrance there are concerns over the junction between the development and the doctor’s surgery.

“The Highway Authority has concerns over the application, including the traffic generation, the location of the secondary access into the proposal and the interaction between the doctor’s surgery and the residential development.

“The Highway Authority would therefore like to see amendments to the application in order to satisfy the concerns that have been raised.

“If this information is not forthcoming then the Highway Authority will have no alternative other than to recommend refusal of this application for the following reasons.

“First, the proposal is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and the South Somerset District Local Plan since the formation of an access together with the introduction of conflicting traffic movements onto and from Adams Meadow, the cycleway/bridleway and across the public right of way, would be prejudicial to highway safety.

“Second, Adams Meadow by reason of its restricted width, restricted alignment and current layout is considered unsuitable to serve as a means of access to the proposed development.”

An SSDC Community, Health and Leisure spokesman said “there is no capacity for the infrastructure to support the population emerging from this proposed development”, while the landscape architect added although this is the approved direction of growth, “whether or not the land has the capacity to accommodate 450 houses is a moot point”.