Plans for 60 homes with “zero support” in Yatton have been unanimously thrown out.

Developer Persimmon was told to wait and negotiate with a neighbouring developer to prevent the “environmental vandalism” of accessing its Moor Road site though a historic orchard.

The 2-7-hectare parcel of land is allocated for development but a larger scale previous application faced similar opposition and was rejected in 2019.

Despite some revisions, dozens of objectors said the scheme was “completely out of proportion” to the size of the village, there was no prospect of employment and there would be more traffic on the roads.

Yatton Parish Council said: “The detrimental impact on the orchard, the area’s ecology, the adjacent grade II-listed building and the gateway to Yatton are fundamental in the parish council’s recommendations not to support the amended plans.”

It said the long-term future of the village cannot be compromised for the short-term benefit of the developer.

Ward councillor Steve Bridger led opposition to the proposals at North Somerset Council’s planning meeting on April 21, starting by listing the hundreds of homes approved in recent years around the village.

“In Yatton, people’s confidence in the planning system is shot,” he said.
“There’s zero support for this application. It’s one of the two most sensitive and biodiverse sites in Yatton.”

Planning officers recommended approval saying: “The options for an alternative access to the allocated site avoiding the orchard has been thoroughly investigated and there are none that are reasonable and deliverable.”

But Cllr Bridger disagreed. He said: “Churning up a historic remnant orchard and a hedgerow without reason would be environmental vandalism.

“The long-term future of the village cannot be compromised for the short-term benefit of the developer.”

Councillors said Persimmon should wait until Strongvox submitted its plans for a development at the rugby club as that could resolve the access issues.

The meeting heard that Persimmon had not been willing to negotiate as it could take years for the projects to come forward.

Mr Willmot said there would be deliverability issues with accessing the Moor Road site through the rugby club and Sport England was likely to object if replacement pitches were not provided.

Cllr Mike Solomon said: “I’d like to see these houses built. I’ve looked at the objections and it seems to me it all revolves around a compromise, through two developers working together

“Rather than turn it down is there any way we can defer this for six months for the developers to get together again and come up with a better conclusion for the access?”

If not he said he would back refusal of the application. The committee unanimously rejected the plans.