ILMINSTER NEWS: Persimmon Homes can’t work their magic like Harry Potter says Deputy Mayor

COUNCILLORS have reacted angrily to amended plans for a large housing development in Ilminster and have said that the developers cannot “wave a wand like Harry Potter” and hope that everything will be ok.

Persimmon Homes have submitted amended plans to South Somerset District Council for land south west of Canal Way in Ilminster where they want to build up to 400 homes – down from 450 originally envisaged.

But members of Ilminster Town Council’s planning, highways and transport committee, who met on Tuesday (August 1, 2017), are still far from happy with the proposals although they admit that a housing development of some sort will eventually be given the go-ahead.

Cllr Julie Fowler, the Deputy Mayor of Ilminster, said: “These are amended plans, but most of it is still the same. Inevitably houses will be built there, but I have still got my concerns.

“This seems to have been a cosmetic exercise by the developers to get over highway objections and Persimmon seem to think they have solved it by waving Harry Potter’s wand.”

But Cllr Fowler has said that the development would definitely lead to traffic problems along Canal Way and two zebra crossings would add to the delays.

“This will inevitably lead to more traffic,” she said. “It doesn’t take an Einstein to work out that there will be traffic jams along there at peak times with a crossing by the medical centre and a possible new school.”

The developers have suggested that they envisage most people living on the new development would get work within Ilminster.

“It’s pie in the sky that most people living there will actually work in Ilminster,” said Cllr Fowler.

And she added: “The development will happen eventually, but we should request that South Somerset District look at scaling down the development further.”

Cllr Drew Belobaba said the council should “scrutinise” everything what the highways department reported about the development.

This prompted Cllr Fowler to interject and – with tongue-in-cheek firmly placed - said that it reminded her of a famous quote of Benjamin Disraeli, who twice served as Prime Minister of the UK in the 1800s, when he said: “There are three types of lies – lies, damn lies and statistics.”

PHOTO – TOP: Pictured (from left) are Albert Einstein, Harry Potter and Benjamin Disraeli.

Planning committee chairman, Cllr Andrew Shearman, said he was still concerned for the safety of people living on the proposed new development as he feared emergency vehicles would struggle to get in and out of the estate quickly.

Persimmon’s development director Stephen Taylor pointed out in a letter to the district council that the “updated highway details now incorporate the two zebra crossings as identified in the recently submitted Transport Assessment and as agreed with your highway colleagues” and that the highways authority, based at Somerset County Council, had withdrawn its previous recommendation of refusal.

Ilminster Town Council’s planning, highways and transport committee has recommended the application be refused permission, but a final decision will be made by South Somerset District Council at a later date.

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