100 Keinton Mandeville homes approved
Up to 100 new homes will soon be built in the small Somerset village
Up to 100 new homes will soon be built in a small Somerset village – despite concerns that the local school won’t have enough space to cope.
Keinton Mandeville LVA LLP put forward outline plans in July 2022 for 120 new houses south of the B3153 High Street in Keinton Mandeville, located between Somerton and the busy A37 to Yeovil and Shepton Mallet.
These plans – revised down to 100 homes following consultation with Somerset Council’s planning officers – attracted more than 550 objections from local residents, citing traffic levels, over-development and pressure on the village’s primary school.
But Somerset Council’s planning committee south (which handles major applications in the former South Somerset area) narrowly voted to approve the plans on Tuesday afternoon (June 17), arguing it could not successfully defend any appeal by the developer.
The development site comprises three fields south of the B3153, ending near the village hall and the existing Lakeview housing development constructed by Galion.
Access to the new homes would be from a new exit at the north-western corner of the site, with the existing public right of way which runs south of the main road being preserved.
As part of the development, new allotments and a community orchard will be created at the south-east corner, with new parking spaces for the village hall potentially being provided.
Of the 100 homes proposed for the site, 35 will be either affordable rent or social rent – meeting the council’s target for any new development of ten homes or more.
Fletcher Robinson, a planner at CPRE Somerset, was among those who criticised the proposals when the planning committee south met in Yeovil on Tuesday afternoon (June 17).
He said: “Turning this village into a town, without the facilities of a town, is the opposite of good planning.
“Approving this would drive a coach and horses through the Local Plan and its settlement hierarchy.
“This is a massive block of development, with buildings and screening extending deep into the open countryside, blocking the valued panoramic views to the west from two village footpaths.
“The historic settlement pattern in Keinton Mandeville is linear, along the lanes – not huge blocks of back-land development.”
The council received 554 letters or emails objecting to the proposals – more than one for every household in the village – compared to only four in open support of the development.
Local resident Paul Hamlet said: “More than 300 of the objections cite highways as an issue. Avon and Somerset Constabulary has stated that there have been 260 speeding offences and 96 traffic offences in the parish between 2018 and 2024.
“It has taken your highways department two years to concede that there was a serious accident at the site of the proposed pedestrian access. It is unsafe – there is a significant danger.”
Two uncontrolled pedestrian crossings will be provided over the B3153 as part of the development – one near the junction with Barton Road, and one at the north-east corner near the existing public right of way.
In addition to the affordable housing, the developer has promised to provide more than £213,000 towards a new play area for the village, as well as resurfacing the footpaths which will link the site to the village hall and the wider village.
More than £1.2m will also be provided to providing new primary school places – something which Hugh von Bergen, chairman of governors at Keinton Mandeville Primary School, said was impossible to deliver on the current site on Chistles Lane.
He said: “There is not enough space for another classroom, and the existing buildings are far too small.
“You have been warned repeatedly about this problem. There will be overcrowding which will do demonstrable and permanent harm to the school.
“Even after remedial work, we still have raw sewage flowing down the street following heavy rain. Any confirmation given by Wessex Water about the ability of the sewage system to cope is utterly meaningless.”
Councillor Stephen Page (whose Somerton division includes Keinton Mandeville) said the plans were “more suited to somewhere like Swindon than south Somerset”, describing the planned estate as “an urban development parachuted down onto the edge of a small village.”
He elaborated: “This is not an extension to the village or an enhancement of it.
“The primary school is full – it doesn’t have the physical space to add an extra classroom, so you’ll have potentially 50 children who are not going to have a place at their local school. So much for community.
” Keinton Mandeville is one of the jewels in Somerset’s crown – and this is overdevelopment.”
Councillor Lucy Trimnell (Wincanton and Bruton) described the plans as “baffling”, adding: “It’s already awful to drive down High Street – it can get very congested.”
Councillor Tim Kerley (the other Somerton division member) was more resigned, arguing that the council would struggle to defend any appeal where councillors disagreed with their own local education officers.
He reasoned: “If we were in any other position and had a five-year housing land supply, this would be a no-brainer and we wouldn’t even be looking at this. But we are where we are.
“The danger is that without material reasons to turn it down, we will lose an appeal, losing control of any conditions and any Section 106 contributions.”
Councillor Oliver Patrick (Coker) concurred: “It looks like our officers have got more money from the development than they otherwise would have got to expand this unique school site.
“If this goes to appeal and we lose, we do risk those contributions.”
The council is currently defending an appeal over 30 homes on Church Street, on the southern side of Keinton Mandeville, having refused planning permission to Galion in December 2024.
A proposal to refuse permission, citing the lack of capacity at the school, was defeated by five votes to seven. The committee subsequently voted to approve the plans by seven votes to five.