THE first details have emerged of hundreds of new homes which could be built near Crewkerne’s railway station.

Exeter-based firm  Place Land LLP approached South Somerset District Council for information on potentially developing land to the west of the A356 Station Road, just north of the railway line.

The inquiry – known as a screening and scoping request – is designed to provide important background information before a formal planning application is brought forward.

The council has said developing on this site “will not have significant environmental effects” – meaning that an outline application could be submitted in the coming months.

The site runs along the A356 from the Western Power Distribution base, past Monmouth Cottages and The Old Stage Coach Inn public house, and stopping on the north side of the railway line.

Chard & Ilminster News:

Documents published on the council’s online planning portal indicate that up to 350 houses could be built on the site, either side of the existing right of way.

Part of the site would be set aside to provide additional parking for the railway station, which currently has 51 parking spaces plus two disabled spaces.

More than 162,000 people use Crewkerne station every year, according to the Office of Rail and Road, and the number has been rising steadily since 2014.

The site will also include a 60-bed care home and a possible retail centre, with a new access road being created onto Station Road.

The site was not included in the council’s original Local Plan, which was approved in 2015.

However, it was listed during a public consultation in 2017 as an option to be included in the revised Local Plan, with the council believing that it could provide up to 270 houses.

The 15-hectare (36 acres) site has no relationship to the long-running Crewkerne Key Site to the north, where planning permission is in place for 110 homes.

Chard & Ilminster News:

Laura McKechnie, Place Land LLP’s project manager, said: “The proposed development will respect the character of the local area and will impact only on natural resources to the extent that land, of no particular designation, will be used.

“It is our intention to submit a comprehensive planning application that gives proper consideration to the impact of the development upon the local environment.”

The company has not specified how soon it would be submitting a formal application.

The council is currently deliberating whether to grant planning permission for 150 homes to the west of the site, on land south of Kit Hill.

The council is due to make a decision on the Kit Hill plans before the end of September.