PLANNING officers are recommending that Taunton Deane Borough Council ignores its own requirements and planning conditions by allowing developers to reduce the amount of affordable and rented housing in the new Comeytrowe/Trull development by 150.
Why? Because, apparently, this site isn’t viable for a major housing development without this reduction.
That’s 150 local families on lower incomes denied a home.
Councillor Mark Edwards, the local councillor for Trull, describes this as “hugely disappointing”. Quite right.
Much of the blame for this must go to the councillor who identified the flawed Trull/ Comeytrowe site as “suitable for a major urban extension” of up to 6,000 houses, resulting in the lack of affordable housing and the ludicrously inadequate infrastructure which will result in gridlock along the Wellington and Trull Roads, increased flooding risk and lack of local school places when the development is complete.
READ MORE: Council approves drop in affordable homes at Comeytrowe development
Who is this councillor? That’s right, it’s Mark Edwards, as the councillor in charge of strategic planning who put this site in the Core Strategy.
So Mark Edwards is “hugely disappointed” in Mark Edwards for allowing this to happen.
A toxic mixture of developer greed and Tory incompetence has resulted in this fiasco.
Congratulations to local Liberal Democrat councillors for Comeytrowe, Habib Farbahi, Simon Nicholls and Alan Wedderkopp for mobilising local residents and consistently fighting against the worst aspects of this development.
ALAN PAUL
Comeytrowe
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