COUNCILLORS defied their planning officers to reject a plan for nine homes off Moravia Close in Bridgwater.

At Sedgemoor District Council's development committee on Tuesday, May 11, planning officer Shanta Parsons outlined that permission which had previously been granted on the site had expired, and that Highways did not object to the application, nor would it have a significant adverse impact on the character of the area.

However the plan from developer Citico Ltd to build six three-bedroom homes and three two-bedroom homes was dismissed by councillors who had been on a site visit.

Resident Katherine Searle appealed to the committee: "I live at 66 Moravia Close in one of the homes that will be most affected.

"There have been planning applications before, we have known something is going in there. But this application is for nine houses, that is potentially another 18 cars. If you go down there now it is already down there like a slalom and visibility is not good. It cannot take any extra cars," she said.

Town and district councillor Mick Lerry spoke on behalf of residents in his ward saying: "I object on grounds of road safety and the impact of the building on the neighbours. One car has already crashed into a home there and caused structural damage in the last year.

"There needs to be protection for this property and we need to ensure safe access. I think there need to be changes to this application, I think the biggest properties should be reduced from three stories to two stories."

Cllr Janet Keen agreed with the speakers saying: "We did a site visit mid-morning and it was highly congested then. If a three story house is built across from the home we visited, the current resident will only get any sunlight into their garden on June 21.

"I think it devalues the property and will reduce their quality of life. I think some compromise could be reached but I am not happy to support the application as it is because I think the proposal is very damaging to neighbours."

Cllr Peter Downing said he did not like the application but was struggling to find planning reasons to sustain refusal given it had been granted permission before.

Cllr Graham Granter said: "I concur with my fellow councillors. It looks as though squeezing in that many homes in that space would make the accommodation unnecessarily cramped, and it beggars belief we are thinking of putting more traffic on to that road."

The committee defied the recommendation of their officers and unanimously refused the application.