ILMINSTER NEWS: D-Day for Persimmon Homes plans

A DECISION on whether to allow up to 400 homes be built on land off Canal Way in Ilminster will be made on Wednesday (August 16, 2017) evening just over five miles away down the road in Chard.

Members of South Somerset District Council’s Area West committee will meet at the Guildhall in Fore Street, Chard, for their monthly meeting where on the agenda is the controversial planning application submitted by Persimmon Homes.

Councillors have been recommended by planning officer Andrew Gunn to give the amended scheme the go-ahead, but it is expected that a large number of people from Ilminster will be at the meeting to protest against the proposals.

The Mayor of Ilminster, Cllr Val Keitch, who incidentally is the chairman of the district council’s Area West committee, scotched rumours that the meeting was being held in Chard to deter opponents to the Persimmon application from attending.

“I can knock that on the head straight away,” she said at Ilminster Town Council’s full meeting on Tuesday (August 15, 2017) which was held at the Ilminster Bowling Club.

Cllr Keitch explained that it was being held in the Guildhall at Chard because it was a large enough venue to cater for the meeting which is expected to attract a large number of residents.

But she said that if anyone was struggling for transport to get to the meeting – to get in touch.

“If there is anyone who can’t get there and would like to attend, please get in touch with me and I will see what we can do,” said the Mayor.

“A lot of people will be going to the Area West meeting on Wednesday and I would urge people to go if they feel strongly about the planning application.”

The application put forward by Persimmon Homes is for outline permission only for the development. If given the go-ahead the developers would then need to provide further and more detailed information as part of a full application to get the final green light, although that will be a virtual formality.

Earlier members of Ilminster Town Council objected to the amended Persimmon Homes plans and said the developers could not “wave a wand like Harry Potter” and hope that everything will be ok.

They are worried about the extra traffic that will be generated by the development and the lack of infrastructure to meet the needs of 400 extra homes, plus the problems emergency vehicles might have in getting onto the new estate.

They know that the application will sooner or later get the go-ahead, but have asked that the district council looks at scaling down the size of the development further.

Persimmon has already reduced the number of homes from 450 to 400 in its amended proposals.

The all-important Area West meeting at the Guildhall in Chard on Wednesday (August 16, 2017) begins at 5.30pm, but the planning applications will not start until 6.15pm at the earliest. The Canal Way application is the third on the list – although the agenda states that anyone wanting to speak on a planning item are recommended to be at the meeting by 6pm.

Recent background stories on the Persimmon Homes planning application:

August 4, 2017: Planning chiefs recommend Persimmon plans should be given the green light - http://www.ilminsterpress.co.uk/blog/2017/08/04/ilminster-news-planning-chiefs-recommend-persimmon-plans-should-be-given-the-green-light/ .

August 2, 2017: Persimmon Homes can’t work their magic like Harry Potter says Deputy Mayor - http://www.ilminsterpress.co.uk/blog/2017/08/02/ilminster-news-persimmon-homes-can-t-work-their-magic-like-harry-potter-says-deputy-mayor/ .

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