Supreme Court ruling means 35 new homes will be built in Somerset village
Construction on the long-awaited housing development could start by mid-2026
Dozens of new homes can be built in a growing Somerset village following a recent ruling by the Supreme Court.
Richard Frankpitt secured outline planning permission in February 2018 to build 35 homes north of Lyndhurst Grove in Martock, following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
Larkfleet Homes SW Ltd. put forward detailed plans (known as a reserved matters application) in June 2020, which would see the new houses built between the existing homes on Lyndhurst Grove and the former railway line.
The application was one of more than 50 proposals within the former South Somerset area, which was significantly delayed by the ongoing phosphates crisis, with developers needing to secure additional mitigation to prevent further damage to the Somerset Levels and Moors.
But following a ruling by the Supreme Court in October, Somerset Council has been able to approve these plans without additional mitigation being secured – meaning construction could at last begin by the summer of 2026.
The new homes would be accessed by extending Lyndhurst Grove to the north, with additional landscaping being provided at the northern edge along the former trackbed to screen the homes from the Martock Business Park.
In line with the original appeal decision, only four of the new homes will be affordable, rather than the 12 that would normally be permitted under the council’s existing planning policies (which demand 35 per cent affordable housing for any new development of ten homes or more within the former South Somerset area).
The original Natural England legal advice, issued in August 2020, applied to all developments within the Somerset Levels and Moors catchment area – a decision which has left around 12,000 homes in limbo.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in October that sites which secured outline planning consent before this advice was issued would not have to provide additional mitigation as part of the reserved matters stage.
This decision – made in relation to the Jurston Fields development in Wellington – will enable the council to approve numerous proposals which were delayed while developers negotiated bespoke phosphate mitigation (such as the fallowing of agricultural land or creating new wetlands within the same catchment area).
The Lyndhurst Grove proposals were approved by the council’s planning officers through their delegated powers, rather than a public decision by its planning committee south (which handles major applications within the former South Somerset area).
Planning officer Anna Jotcham said in her written report: “This application was previously held in abeyance due to uncertainty over nutrient neutrality requirements and potential impacts on the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site.
“At that time, Natural England advised that mitigation for phosphate loading was necessary, which delayed determination.
“However, a recent Supreme Court judgement confirmed that where an outline planning permission site within a Ramsar designation does not include
conditions or obligations relating to nutrient neutrality, we cannot consider phosphate effects when determining reserved matters applications.
“This submission provides an acceptable layout, scale, appearance and landscaping for the approved development.”
Martock has seen significant housing growth in recent years, with Barratt Homes delivering 120 homes on the Coat Grove site opposite Lyndhurst Grove.
Two significant further estates have also been approved within the last two years, with 100 homes on Coat Road (west of the Lyndhurst Grove site) being granted outline permission in January 2024 and Stonewater securing permission in March 2024 for 24 homes on Foldhill Lane.
Construction on the Lyndhurst Grove homes is expected to begin by mid-2026, with the first homes becoming available by Christmas.