'Much-needed' homes approved after a decade

Plans for hundreds of new homes, a care home, a community centre and a school have been given the green light more than a decade after they were first proposed.

Somerset councillors approved the 765 homes at Keyford, on the southern edge of Yeovil, after debating them "at length", according to the planning committee's chair.

Councillor Jason Baker said the site had been allocated for housing by the council and it would "see the delivery of much-needed housing".

John Bishop from developers Charles Bishop Ltd said the development off Dorchester Road, opposite Yeovil Showground, would be "a great site" and they hoped to finalise paperwork in the next nine months, to progress with the plans.

Of the 765 homes, just 24 (3%) will be classed as affordable. Somerset Council usually stipulates 35% affordable homes on new developments.

However, Baker said the committee was satisfied the developer had justified this with "robust viability appraisals" showing it would not be financially viable for it to provide a higher number of affordable homes.

Bishop said they had first applied for planning permission on the site, along with local landowners, in 2015.

The application was resolved for approval by South Somerset District Council in 2019 - that local authority was later absorbed into the new Somerset Council.

Progress was then delayed first by the Covid-19 pandemic and then by new nutrient neutrality rules, which required the scheme to be updated before it could proceed.

Somerset Council's planning officers said so much time had passed since the 2019 approval that many of the application documents needed to be "refreshed" to be in line with current planning guidance, hence this new application.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.