Planning issues in wells

Opinion piece by Chris Charles, Wells Civic Society committee member

Three recent planning applications demonstrate the importance of the Neighbourhood Plan and emphasise the need to ensure that the Local Plan for Somerset, due to be completed in 2027, includes the strategic priorities for Wells and the surrounding communities.  The three applications are:

2025/0547/FUL  Development of Wells Rugby Club, Charter Way, Wells

2025/0347/FUL  Cheddar Valley Inn, Tucker St, Wells

2025/0482/FUL  New Rugby Ground, Haybridge.

The public consultation periods for all three have expired.  All three been considered by the planning committees of the relevant parish councils,  Wells and St Cuthburt Out, with a recommendations for refusal for all three.  It is possible that the three will be revised and re-submitted which may provide a further opportunity for comment.

A common cause for concern for all three was a failure to address the active travel agenda and in particular to accommodate the continuation of the Strawberry Line through Wells.  Because of the vigilance of the team overseeing the Strawberry Line, the shortcomings of all three applications were drawn to the attention of the parish councils.  Whether Somerset Planning Committee chose to recognise and act on these concerns remains to be seen. 

The Rugby Club at Charter Way site is one of the development sites in the Wells Neighbourhood plan.  The Plan envisages building 80 units using the award winning Goldsmith Street development in Norwich as a template.  The application from a housing association, Stonewater, sets out 106 units, all of which will be "affordable".  Somerset CC who have taken over ownership of the site from Mendip DC will find the "excess" units appealing in that they contribute to the shortfall against housing targets and affordable housing in particular. However, the overdevelopment of the site means there is too little space to accommodate the planned route for the Strawberry Line on the north and east of the site and the development fails to preserve mature trees.  Stonewater use only two house designs in their developments, contemporary or traditional, using cost and their social credentials as a justification for the lack of architectural inspiration.  This despite Goldsmith Street also being a social housing project.  So, if Somerset approve the application in its current form, not only will key aspects of the design code in the Neighbourhood Plan be ignored but a regionally critical infrastructure project (the completion of the 76 mile Somerset Circle) will be frustrated.

The Cheddar Valley Inn development proposals impinge on the Tucker Street junction for the Strawberry Line designs set out in detail in the Neighbourhood Plan.   The planning application is drawn on a way to ensure maximum development of the site without regard to the multi use pathway along its boundary.  The proposals for the new site for Wells Rugby Club at Haybridge allows for significant car parking but little or no provision for cycles or pedestrian access to the new site from either the Strawberry Line or from Wookey.

The parish councils' recommendations to refuse permission are welcome.  Planners do take account of the metrics of both objections and support from the public, so it is important that if these applications are subject to future consultation, responses are provided by the wider community and not simply those in the immediate vicinity of the developments.  It is crucial that planning priorities and red lines are developed to ensure that the forthcoming Local Plan sets out both clear purposes and constraints to ensure that individual planning projects incrementally build towards the desired vision for the Wells community.  We will attempt to ensure that input to the Local Plan is a feature of future Civic Society events.

As an opinion piece this article does not represent the views of the Wells Civic Society but is a contribution to discussion by one of its members.