Somerset homes scrapped for not meeting zero carbon plans

Mendip Spring was envisioned as a thriving new community with extensive green spaces

Plans for a garden village offering 2,600 new homes have been scrapped.

North Somerset Council said the project, which sits North of Langford, was "likely to be predominantly car-based, with more limited scope for effective investment in public transport".

It found the plans failed to comply with its zero carbon objectives.

A spokeswoman for a residents' action group said they were relieved that "common sense had prevailed".

Churchill and Langford Residents' Action Group (CALRAG) added members were seriously concerned about the proposal to create six separate housing estates totalling 257 homes in the parish of Langford.

The homes are planned around Ladymead Lane, north, west and south of Pudding Pie Lane, south of Jubilee Lane and south of Bristol Road.

The spokeswoman said: "These will all have access from narrow lanes, which are already often choked with traffic... [and] car use will be almost obligatory as they are too far from bus routes or shops.

"It is ironic that these are the same reasons given for the removal of the Mendip Spring 'settlement' from the draft Local Plan".

She explained the village "lacked the infrastructure for these to be anything other than soulless dormitory estates".

The group is asking the council to reconsider proposals for the housing estates and use land within 10 minutes' walking distance from train stations or major bus routes serving employment centres.

Following the councils decision not to pursue the Mendip Spring settlement, discussions have moved to the potential for building 2,500 homes on green belt land south of Long Ashton, and at a site north west of Banwell, where another 2,800 could be built.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the draft Local Plan proposes sites for 18,064 homes, which is 2,021 fewer than the 20,085 new houses required by the government, so other locations are yet have to be identified.

The council will consult on the draft Local Plan in March and it is expected to be adopted in December 2023.