Consulting on Planning

All planning applications are submitted to and decided by Somerset Council. You can follow applications on the Planning Tracker in the menu above.  The Parish Council is a statutory consultee on behalf of the village and as such may raise any objections or observations on each application - it has no powers to authorise or determine applications itself.  Objections can only be made on objective legal grounds e.g. the proposal being against current Someret Council planning policies, such as traffic safety, loss of light, visual amenity (out of keeping with local environment) etc.

The Parish Council created a Built Environment Survey which records the types of building materials used in each property throughout the village.  Some 60% of houses in the village are constructed of either hamstone or reconstituted hamstone.  This is produced as evidence to the Somerset Council Planning Authority when new major developments are proposed in order to keep the character of our village intact, and to date has been used with some success. Unfortunately, the Parish Council has no powers over whether proposed new developments or alterations to existing properties receive approval but it aims to ensure that developments are sympathetic to and harmonise with their immediate neighbourhood, and that any potential issues such as traffic, drainage and highway safety are addressed by the relevant authority.