A DEVELOPMENT of nearly 100 homes will still be delivered in Chard despite the ongoing phosphates crisis, the developer has promised.

Summerfield Homes put forward plans to build 94 houses on the A358 Tatworth Road, which were approved by South Somerset District Council’s area west committee in August 2020.

Since this decision, efforts to begin construction on the site have been delayed by the Dutch N court ruling surrounding phosphate levels on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

The developer has now confirmed it still intends to bring the new homes forward once a mitigation strategy had been agreed.

The site (dubbed Thorhild on the developer’s official website) lies within the Chard Eastern Development Area (CEDA) – a large area of land between the A358 and the A30 Crewkerne Road where the council intends to deliver up to 2,700 new homes, 17 hectares of employment land and two new primary schools for the town.

The Summerfield development would be built between two larger developments: the Snowdon Grange site of 200 properties currently being constructed by Tilia Homes, and a planned Persimmon Homes development of 252 homes – which will also deliver the first stage of the Chard eastern relief road to take traffic away from the town centre.

Access from the Summerfield site would be onto Tatworth Road, with a pedestrian link between provided to the existing Holbear homes.

Of the 94 homes, only 14 will affordable – the equivalent of only 19 per cent, far below the council’s 35 per cent target for any new development of ten homes or above.

Ed Khodabandehloo, managing director of Summerfield Homes, said: “We are still planning to bring forwards our scheme for 94 homes in Chard; however this has been held up with the nutrient neutrality challenges being experienced across Somerset.

“Once we have settled on a Natural England approved mitigation strategy we will look to push forwards in delivering these open market and affordable properties."

Chard & Ilminster News:

The Dutch N court ruling stated that any development within the catchment area of the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site (which is protected by international law) had to be subjected to additional tests and mitigation to prevent any discernible rise in phosphate levels.

The need to agree such mitigation has led to around 11,000 homes in Somerset being held up – of which around 3,900 lies within South Somerset.

The four district councils have created a “phosphate calculator” as a short-term fix, enabling developers to work out how much they need to contribute towards off-setting phosphates from a given site.

But despite this and other steps taken – such as allocating £2M for the creation of new wetlands in the River Tone catchment area – there has been little support or policy direction from central government to ease the crisis.

On top of this mitigation, Summerfield’s planning permission included a commitment to making numerous financial contributions towards Chard’s infrastructure to ensure the town could cope with the new homes.

These contributions – secured under a Section 106 legal agreement – included £529,294 towards a new primary school (which may not be delivered until 2028), £348,054 towards new secondary school places (with Holyrood Academy currently being expanded) and £324,774 towards providing new sports facilities.

Mr Khodabandehloo confirmed these payments would still be made as the development progressed, stating: “Regarding financial contributions to community infrastructure, we will be making these by way of Section 106 payments.”

A decision on the plans for the Persimmon plans has been repeatedly delayed, with the council giving new indication as to when it will come back before the area west committee.