North Somerset’s MP Dr Liam Fox is backing villagers’ calls to protect a beauty spot from housing in Ham Green.
Dr Fox met with residents who are concerned about proposals to build housing in Chapel Pill Lane, next to Ham Green Lake.
Pill and District Land Trust has earmarked the site for 16 homes as part of the parish’s Neighbourhood Plan to provide much-needed affordable housing.
However, the land is in the greenbelt and next to the popular beauty spot which is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
More: Villagers fight proposal to site homes on greenbelt new beauty spot.
People living nearby are also worried about the effect the development could have on wildlife at the lake and nearby woodland.
Nearby homeowner Stuart Tarr said: “We appreciate the need for more housing but who in their right mind would want to squander a tranquil and idyllic community asset like Ham Green Lake rather than build on a brownfield site?”
Dr Fox also visited the site in January and is backing villagers’ objections to the proposal.
He said: “Not only is it an outstanding beauty spot, but it is protected by its greenbelt location.
“We should not be encouraging environmental vandalism in our precious areas.”
The site has been earmarked for homes in the Neighbourhood Plan, which has been drawn up by a steering group with from representatives from Abbots Leigh and Pill and Easton-in-Gordano parish councils, members of the community and Alliance Homes to set out possible sites for development to 2026.
The steering group looked at 10 possible sites for new homes, but Chapel Pill Lane was the only site where the landowner was willing to engage and sign terms of agreement.
Orchard View – a brownfield site at Perrett Way in Ham Green – has also been earmarked for 24 new homes, as well as a 60-bed care home.
Dr Fox also paid a visit to Orchard View which residents feel is a far more suitable site for housing, including social housing and starter homes, which are desperately needed in the village.
You can view the plan by logging on to www.pillanddistrictplan.org
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