CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 450 new homes off Canal Way in Ilminster have been submitted dividing opinion in the town.

The new site, which will also include space for a first school, will border the medical centre and football club to the east, Adams Meadow and Canal Way to the north, and Coldharbour farm to the west.

The application has faced instant backlash from some residents who say the town cannot cope with the number of new houses, and that the site needs more than one access point for vehicles.

Sandra Jay, who lives on Canal Way near the roundabout, said: “From purely a personal point of view, I want a secondary access to the site.

“I am very concerned about the construction and tradesmen traffic, with everything that entails, on the roundabout at the front of my house.

“We must be thinking it will take about three or four years, at least, for 450 houses.

“Also, the surgery has lots of older people using this access as well as the police having parking spaces there. It is going to be very busy.”

The travel plan submitted by Peter Brett Associates LLP on behalf of Persimmon Homes South West addresses a the single access point.

The plan says: “A secondary access through the existing residential development on Adams Meadow will ensure access is available to the development for emergency vehicles, should the main access become blocked for some reason.

“Although this route will not provide access for vehicular traffic, pedestrian and cyclists will be able to utilise this access in order to reach areas to the west of Ilminster”

Meanwhile, some residents have spoken in favour of the plans, saying that there is currently a risk of people being forced of Ilminster due to a shortage of available housing.

One Ilminster resident who wished to remain unnamed has welcomed the plans.

He said: “I am over the moon as this planning application would make the Archie Gooch pavilion the hub of the town.

“The new homes will also mean that all of our town’s young footballers should be able to stay local.

“The demand for homes is so high that a rented house is only available for a day. The lack of housing at the moment is driving people out of Ilminster.”

Mrs Jay also has concerns that the town is not ready for the influx of people that the new homes will bring.

She added: “Where are all these people going to work? Where are all the jobs? Infrastructure - well what can one say? Earlier this week I made an appointment to see my doctor, and the first available was February 6.

“The plan will, of course, include a new school, which may help but then that is even more traffic converging on this side of town.”

The planning statement from Persimmon Homes South said: “The outline planning application is for the development of approximately 450 dwellings with all details reserved excluding primary access to the site.

“This proposal will form an extension south west of the town. The land forms part of the Ilminster Direction of Growth within the adopted South Somerset Local plan.