Construction of 185 new homes in Yeovil is set to start in the coming months after the necessary legal agreements were finalized between the developer and Somerset Council.
The Abbey Manor Group has been developing the Bunford Park commercial site, located off the A3088 between the Bunford Lane roundabout and Lysander Road crossroads, which has brought hundreds of new jobs to the area since its outline approval in March 2011.
Its sister company, Abbey Manor Developments, submitted two separate planning applications to build a total of 185 houses south of the business park, with access off Watercombe Lane. The Somerset Council planning committee for southern areas approved both applications in April 2025, but it has taken nearly a year for all legal agreements to be signed, allowing construction to finally begin later this year.
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The two sites are situated west of Watercombe Lane, between Bunford Park and the Bunford Heights development, constructed by Tilia Homes off the A30 West Coker Road. Access to the new homes will be through a newly created junction on Watercombe Lane, which may also serve as a secondary entry point into the business park in future phases.
To improve connectivity, an enhanced pedestrian link will be built between the new housing site and the existing Bunford Heights community, replacing the current steep footpath.
The development plan includes delivering 100 homes closest to the main road, divided into two phases of 53 and 47 homes, respectively, with an additional 85 houses planned further west later on.
Only 15% of the homes across both sites—28 houses—will be affordable housing, matching the proportion planned for the Up Mudford urban extension on Yeovil’s northeastern edge. This falls short of Somerset Council’s 35% affordable housing target for developments larger than ten homes in the former South Somerset area. The developer has cited land viability challenges as the reason for the reduced affordable housing allocation.
Beyond housing, the development will contribute nearly £392,000 to support additional early years education spaces in Yeovil and nearly £104,000 toward expanding NHS services, primarily to enhance nearby doctors’ surgeries. Other community benefits include approximately £247,000 for local play equipment, over £144,000 for new changing rooms, more than £117,000 for new playing pitches, and around £42,000 for youth facilities.
The site is part of the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment, a protected Ramsar site, which requires measures to prevent any net increase in phosphate levels. To comply, the developer must either purchase phosphate credits—generated by fallowing agricultural land elsewhere—or implement alternative phosphate mitigation schemes, such as constructing wetlands or new wastewater treatment infrastructure before building work begins.
Bill Cotton, Somerset Council’s interim service director for planning, commented, “The site is located in a sustainable area with access to various services and facilities. The proposals are not expected to cause significant adverse effects on visual or residential amenity, highway safety, flood risk, or ecology that would justify refusing planning permission.”