Somerset Council approve Acorn Homes (SW) Minehead homes

Acorn Homes (SW) Ltd. applied in August 2022 to build ten homes on a small plot of land on Porlock Road, next to Minehead Cemetery.

The Taunton-based developer – not to be confused with the similarly-named Acorn Property Group – previously delivered new homes on Periton Lane and The Shires within the town.

Somerset Council has now voted to grant approval for the proposals, despite local councillors’ reservations about flooding, road safely and the lack of affordable housing in the town.

The site – which is outside of the development boundary of Minehead – lies at the south-western corner of the cemetery, between Porlock Road and the existing homes on Home Meadow.

Access will be from Porlock Road, with the existing public footpath along the northern boundary being preserved and a new pedestrian link to the cemetery being included.

A total of 38 car parking spaces will be provided within the site, with the homes being either three- or four-bedroom in size.

Plans for the homes near Minehead cemetary.

None of the new homes, which lie within touching distance of the Exmoor National Park, will be affordable.

Under the planning policies of the former West Somerset Council (which were inherited by Somerset Council in April), affordable homes are only mandatory on sites where 11 or more properties are delivered.

Councillor Gwilym Wren raised concerns about flooding near the site when the council’s planning committee west met in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (October 17).

He said: “The site is on a slope – it falls from south to north, towards the road.

“They’re proposing to store surface water in tanks – but the planning conditions say these don’t have to be designed or agreed until the first house is occupied, and I think that’s too late.

“How is it going to maintain these tanks? I don’t think this is a sensible solution at all.”

Both this site and the land to the south are identified for future housing within a strategic housing and employment land availability assessment (SHELAA) carried out by Somerset West and Taunton Council before its abolition, with the combined area expected to provide 55 new homes by 2032.

Councillor Andy Hadley – whose Minehead division includes the site – said: “Why are we building on agricultural land when we have already got building land identified in our Local Plan in Minehead? I can’t understand that.

“It’s a mile from the town centre if you went down Porlock Road – there’s no footpath down there. It’s a very dangerous and dark road, with no lighting – I don’t care if people say it’s a 40mph limit, drivers are doing 60mph up there.

“To say that it’s got a safe and good access to the town centre is , in my mind, a bit of a fallacy.

“These houses are not affordable for the people who work in Minehead. We have a tourist economy with low wages – we desperately need affordable houses in Minehead.”

Councillor Rosemary Woods (Watchet and Stogursey) added: “I came with an open mind – I had a look at the site over the weekend, and it’s not as steep as I thought it was.

“These are going to be bought by outsiders – I’m not against that, but the local connectivity should be there.

“It would be nice if the town council would let people walk through the cemetery from this new estate, to bring them into the town. If you walk on Porlock Road, you’re taking your life into your hands – I wouldn’t walk along there.”

Councillor Steven Pugsley (Dulverton and Exmoor), however, said there were no reasonable grounds in planning law to refuse the application.

He said: “I think we all regret that they’ve decided to develop ten large houses, but there’s no compulsion upon them to do more than that.

“I can’t in truth see that there are very strong reasons that can be sustained for disagreeing with the proposal.”

The committee voted to approve the plans by a margin of seven votes to two.