Building u-turn could lead to more houses
How a new legal opinion might unlock the building of thousands of homes in Somerset. Somerset Confidential® explains how....
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Council policy to be overturned?
There is a housing crisis in Somerset. That most people can agree on. The fact that those houses that are built are usually the wrong houses, in the wrong place, at the wrong price, is an argument for another day.
As Cllr Oliver Patrick points out: “you go on Homefinder Somerset and see that 300 people applied for a 1 bed flat when it became available over the summer…”
Housebuilding in Somerset is not advancing as fast as it could be. Even when planning permission is granted, that does not necessarily mean houses get built. The problem is nutrient neutrality.
A lot of eyes were watching the Strategic Planning Committee that took place today (17 March 2025) because it may yet prove significant for the supply of housing in Somerset.
Regular readers will recall that Natural England downgraded the environmental status of the Somerset Levels & Moors to ‘unfavourable declining’ in June 2021
The reason for that decision was: “Phosphate levels are three times higher than they should be, causing biological harm and producing algae and duckweed that is harmful to wildlife.”
It has been maintained ever since that two of the significant causes of phosphate pollution are dairy farming effluent and human waste from new housing developments.
For four years Natural England have insisted that before any new housing can be built, nutrient mitigation measures must be put in place by the developer. The idea being that the phosphate from new housing will be compensated for by scheme taking phosphate out of the environment. This might be done by reed beds or taking dairy farms out of production.
Natural England wrote to the various councils whose territory covered the Levels & Moors instructing them to take this approach in considering new planning applications.
Somerset Council has lived with this and continued to apply the policy of Somerset West & Taunton District Council, which was to buy up land that could be planted with reed beds and sold on to developers for phosphate credits.
Today's meeting heard that their position is now being challenged. The new Executive Director for Planning, Chris Hall, introduced himself to the meeting by letting members know about some new legal advice the council had received that could change things significantly. There’s more on this below but it is significant.