Plans for 58 new homes on edge of Cheddar approved

The plans include a wildlife area to off set the impact of the new homes

Dozens of new homes will be built on the edge of a village in Somerset.

Keepmoat Homes has been given permission by Sedgemoor District Council to build 58 new homes on the Steart Farm site in Cheddar.

Plans include 15 affordable homes and a wildlife area and construction is due to get under way early in the new year.

The plot located off Wedmore Road had been earmarked to become a Sainsbury's store but the planning permission has expired.

The plot of land which will be turned into housing

Sainsbury's was granted permission in 2012 to build a new supermarket on the site but after permission expired the company then put forward plans to build up to 60 homes on the site instead - plans which were granted on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate in October 2020.

Keepmoat Homes, which subsequently acquired the site, has been given permission by the district council to start the build, The Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The developer said it would maintain the western edge of the site as a "wildlife area" to partially offset the impact of the new homes.

A spokesman for the Pegasus Planning Group representing the developer, said: "The built form has been designed to respond to the local context of Cheddar in order to assimilate itself into the existing village."

Cheddar can expect significant housing growth in the coming years following the approval of numerous other large developments - including 96 homes on the A371 Upper New Road (approved in January), 60 homes on Helliers' Lane (approved in May 2021), and 100 homes and a 60-bed care home on the former Yeo Valley site on Axbridge Road (approved in November 2020).

On the other hand, plans for two sizeable developments near Wedmore Road have been turned down - comprising 115 homes on the other side of Lower Road (which were refused in May after a four-year wait) and 23 homes on the Steart Bushes site (which were refused in August for a fifth time).