TOWN councillors in Wellington have been accused of being “completely out of touch” with residents — after a formal objection to the building of 650 homes on the Jurston Farm site failed to find any support.

The objection, proposed by Cllr Ross Henley, was not seconded at the special town council meeting last Thursday.

Wellington Town Council emphasised again its long-term objection to the development on the site, but recognised that the land had already been allocated within Taunton Deane’s Core Strategy — and Mayor David Mitton passed a resolution which urged Taunton planners to assess a number of factors before granting permission.

Mr Mitton said the town council “had always been opposed to the building of the development at this site”, but passed a resolution which urged Taunton planners to assess a number of factors before granting permission.

These included looking at the provision of schools, recreational space, medical centre facilities and flood defences as well as recommending that the money from the New Homes Bonus scheme be used to improve the town’s infrastructure.

The motion was not opposed.

Mr Mitton said: “I moved a motion, not as mayor but as a councillor, saying that in principal, we had always been opposed to the building of the development at this site. However, if Taunton Deane were going to accept the development we wished to make a number of points.”

Members of campaign group, Save Wellington, had mounted a vigorous campaign against the application by developers CG Fry and Son — and Ann Loarridge, who heads up the group, said campaign members and other residents were "left incensed" after the meeting.

She said: "How dare the councillors totally ignore the overwhelming wishes of their electorate.

“All but one of the Wellington town councillors appear to be completely out of touch with the reality of what the townspeople of Wellington actually want.

“We will continue to fight this unwanted development every inch of the way — with or without the full support of Wellington's elected members."

But Mr Mitton said: “I reject the argument that we are ignoring the views of the electorate – this is a small group who have set up a petition with unrealistic goals.

“The planning legislation from the coalition government enshrines in law an assumption in favour of sustainable development.

“This development is included in the Core Strategy adopted by Taunton Deane Borough Council. The time to have opposed the use of this land for housing development was before the strategy was adopted in 2012.

“No-one from this group registered opposition then.

“The town council while registering our long held opposition to development on this site are sticking up for the interests of everybody in Wellington by trying to obtain the best outcomes for the town."

Around 60-70 people crammed into the United Reformed Church in Wellington last Thursday, including Wellington resident Steve Garner, who believes the town’s facilities will be unable to cope with the development.

He said: “Drivers of Wellington, you can look forward to another 2,000 plus cars on the road, most of which during peak hours.”