Plans for 252 homes north of Yeovil have been amended after Somerset Council approved the removal of a proposed constructed treatment wetland, prompting warnings from nearby communities about possible downstream flooding.
The decision affects the Mudford Sock site, north of the A359 Mudford Road. Outline planning permission was granted in March 2024, with the original scheme including a constructed treatment wetland at the northern end of the development.
Somerset Council’s major applications committee voted seven to three in favour of the amended plans after about two hours of debate. One councillor abstained. The committee made its decision at a meeting on 29 July.
What is changing at Mudford Sock?
The site was later sold to Bloor Homes South West, which submitted plans for the first phase of 109 homes. That phase is known as Oakmere Rise.
Under the revised proposal, the land intended for the wetland will become public open space. Instead, the development will use more conventional sustainable urban drainage systems, known as SUDS, including attenuation ponds and reed-beds.
The original wetland was designed to provide a substantial green buffer and help offset a net increase in phosphates affecting the Somerset Levels and Moors. Its proposed replacement has become the main point of disagreement between the developer, councillors and communities downstream.
Why communities are concerned about flooding
Concerns have been raised by groups including the 3 Villages Flood Group, representing Ashington, Chilton Cantelo and Mudford.
Duncan Woodward told the planning committee that the Planning Inspectorate’s original approval treated the wetland as important for both phosphate mitigation and flood resilience. He criticised what he described as a narrower assessment by the planning officer, saying there was no evidence that the replacement drainage would provide equivalent flood storage, attenuation and protection for downstream communities.
Dawn Woodward, a Mudford resident and member of the Friends of Mudford Action Group, said removing the wetland undermined efforts to manage flooding in the River Yeo catchment. She said government mapping identified the site as having high potential for natural flood management.
Evidence presented to the committee also included local monitoring carried out with the Yeovil Community Rivers Trust. That monitoring recorded rainfall levels about 37% higher than the average figures used in the developer’s drainage modelling.
Ms Woodward also referred to other planned developments that would discharge surface water into the same network of ditches connected to Bearley Brook. She said the cumulative impact on downstream communities should be assessed rather than considering each development separately.
Robin Bowring of Mudford Parish Council said flooding was the community’s main concern and questioned how excess water would be managed if the wetland was removed.
Support for the revised drainage design
Bloor Homes South West representatives told councillors that the company would return to the original wetland scheme if the amended drainage plans were rejected. They said doing so would not affect other costs.
Some councillors supported the revised approach. Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Stanton, who also chairs the Somerset Rivers Authority board, said the new system would be more attractive to residents.
Councillor Oliver Patrick pointed to a claimed biodiversity net gain of 20%, described as twice the required level. He also said SUDS had a lower carbon footprint than artificial wetlands that relied on mechanical pumps.
Safety was also raised during the meeting. Councillor Stephen Page of Somerton questioned the risks to children living on the new estate and the proposed drainage system. Planning officer Dawn de Vries told the committee that no unsafe proposals would be approved.
James Cary, chairman of the Friends of Mudford Action Group, compared the changes with the “Trigger’s Broom” sequence from Only Fools and Horses, in which an object has been altered so extensively that people question whether it remains the same object.
“Without the bio-diverse habitat, how can this be the same scheme? Unlike Trigger’s broom, this is not a joke.”
Further decisions expected
The revised drainage arrangement has now been approved, but the wider development still requires further decisions. A decision on the first phase of the housing development and a separate application intended to speed up construction of a new access crossroads are expected before Christmas.
There is also a potential planning-process complication. Under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, residential schemes of 150 homes or more that are refused locally can be escalated to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Such an escalation could lead to an expensive public inquiry.