Plans for a 252-home development north of Yeovil have been changed 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 for the development was granted in March 2024, with the original scheme including a constructed treatment wetland at the northern end of the site.
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 decision was made 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 area intended for the wetland will instead become public open space. The development will use more conventional sustainable urban drainage systems, known as SUDS, including attenuation ponds and reed-beds.
The original wetland was intended to provide a substantial green buffer and help offset a net increase in phosphates affecting the Somerset Levels and Moors. The proposed replacement has become the central point of disagreement between the developer, councillors and communities downstream.
Why downstream communities are worried
Concerns have been raised by groups including the 3 Villages Flood Group, which represents Ashington, Chilton Cantelo and Mudford.
Duncan Woodward told the planning committee that the Planning Inspectorate’s original approval treated the wetland as important not only for phosphate mitigation but also for flood resilience. He criticised what he described as a narrower assessment by the planning officer, saying it did not provide evidence that the replacement drainage would offer 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 attempts to manage flooding in the River Yeo catchment. She said government mapping identified the site as having high potential for natural flood management.
Concerns presented to the committee also referred to 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 highlighted 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 needed to 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 amended scheme
Bloor Homes South West representatives told councillors that, if the amended drainage plans were rejected, the company would return to the original wetland scheme. They said this 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 raised during the meeting by Councillor Stephen Page of Somerton, who 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 is still the same object.
“Without the bio-diverse habitat, how can this be the same scheme? Unlike Trigger’s broom, this is not a joke.”
The revised drainage arrangement has now been approved, but further decisions remain. 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.