WATCHET residents have a week to have their say as developers consult on a proposal for 150 new homes on land near Doniford Road.

South West Strategic Developments (SWSD) have identified 14 hectares of land south of Doniford Road around the Normandy Avenue estate, but only 50 per cent of the land is proposed to be developed on.

The northern section of the site forms part of a locally designated Wildlife Site and to the south is Liddymore Farm.

Residents have the opportunity to post their comments on eastwatchet.co.uk or by sending them to Grass Roots Planning Ltd, Unit 106, 86-88 Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5BB by February 6.

The concept proposal by SWSD includes:

- Up to 150 new homes which will predominantly be family sized houses

- A proportionate number of the houses will be affordable

- New vehicular access from the Doniford Road running south into Normandy Avenue

- Pedestrian and cycle access throughout the site with as many links as possible

- Extensive areas of public open spaces and enhancement of the local Wildlife Site, opening this area up to the public

- Keeping development below the 30m contour line, to minimise landscape impact.

The Government is committed to increasing the number of houses and regional and district councillors are obliged to identify suitable locations to meet this need.

West Somerset have yet to fully define the number of houses they need to build but SWSD estimate it will be around 2,900, and to achieve the developers say some of this will need to be on greenfield land.