PLANS for 130 new homes on land close to North Petherton Rugby Club have been given the green light this week.

The plans were submitted by Orme Architecture on behalf of E&O Holdings for outline permission to build 130 new homes on land to the East of the A38 Taunton Road in North Petherton.

The site is approximately 4.4 hectares and includes a grouping of four separate agricultural fields to the south of North Petherton.

The proposed access to the site will be via a right-hand turn off of the A38.

A plan for 75 new homes from Persimmon on an adjacent site was approved last year, and would also has ‘potential to provide a further central access to the site’.

The plans were approved by Sedgemoor District Council’s development committee subject to a Section 106 agreement relating to the delivery of play areas, affordable housing and open spaces, which has now been reached.

The 130 homes will have a ‘range of sizes’, to encourage ‘a diverse range of people to the area’, according to the developers.

The site will have a range of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four bedroom houses, and 30 per cent of the provision on the site will be affordable housing.

The developers say the site will contain predominantly two-storey dwellings.

Following consultations with an ecologist, the proposal has incorporated a ‘Green strategy’ to retain and enhance the existing hedgerows to help develop a ‘green buffer zone’ which will act as a wildlife corridor along the eastern boundary of the development.

North Petherton Town Council objected to the proposal, arguing the plan to have ‘two separate access roads to the site within a few yards of each other onto a major road makes no sense’.

The NPTC objection states this will hinder any potential future plans for a link road through to Newton Road with a single access on to Taunton Road

To view the full application, visit the planning section of the Sedgemoor District Council website and search for application number: 37/18/00097.