Plans to build 530 new homes near the M5 motorway in Bridgwater could be expedited by nearly a year if proposed amendments are approved. In February 2023, Sedgemoor District Council’s development committee voted to approve outline plans for up to 530 homes at Folletts Farm, located on Dunwear Lane. Despite initial descriptions of the scheme as “preposterous,” the project has moved forward under the joint submission of Lance Alec Rainey House and Hannick Homes Developments Ltd.
Following the local government restructuring in April 2023, Somerset Council took over responsibilities and subsequently endorsed the legal agreement for the development in December 2024. The site was then placed on the market and sold to Barratt Homes, who have since submitted revised plans focusing on the first phase of the development. This initial phase encompasses 178 homes at the northern end of the site.
Barratt Homes is now seeking to amend the original planning permission to allow the construction and occupation of these homes to begin up to ten months earlier than initially authorised, contingent upon approval of the detailed plans for the first phase.
READ MORE: Choosing Stairs Over Lifts Could Cut Heart-Related Death Risk by 39%
READ MORE: Symptoms of Eye Damage from Solar Eclipse May Appear Hours or Days Later
The Folletts Farm site constitutes the southern part of the East Bridgwater housing allocation as outlined in the Sedgemoor Local Plan. This area also includes the Strawberry Grange site north of Westonzoyland Road and a separate development planned to provide 750 homes south of Polden Bower special needs school.
Access to the new homes will be via the newly constructed roundabout on Westonzoyland Road, with continued access to Dunwear Lane maintained through a T-junction off the site’s main spine road. The original outline permission stipulated that no site development should occur until the roundabout and main vehicular access were completed. With the roundabout now operational, Barratt Homes seek to revise this condition to permit occupation following the delivery of the new access.
Planning Manager Emma Gillespie commented that details of the access were submitted to the council in February, with an agreement expected by autumn. She explained that the proposed amendment aims to bring forward the occupation of homes by up to ten months, subject to ecological mitigation and technical approval, by synchronising the completion of the access with first occupations. She emphasised that no residents would be allowed to move in until the access is fully open and operational.
The council is anticipated to reach a decision on this proposed change by the end of the summer.