Somerset Council has put the "last nail in the coffin" a resident has claimed, after revised plans for 32 new homes were approved in a Somerset village.

Land Value Alliances secured outline permission on appeal in April 2020 to build up to 32 homes on land east of Sub Road in Butleigh, between Glastonbury and Somerton.

The site was subsequently sold to Glastonbury-based developer Galion Ltd., which put forward revised proposals for the same number of homes in March 2023.

Somerset Council's planning committee east (which handles major applications in the former Mendip area) voted to approve these revised plans in November 2024, despite residents expressing fears that the development would put existing properties at risk.

These plans have now been re-approved by the same committee in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on phosphate mitigation – clearing the way for construction to begin in a matter of months.

The site, which lies south of the Holm Oaks estate, is allocated within the Mendip Local Plan Part II to deliver a minimum of 25 new homes by 2029.

Access will be created from Sub Road through the partial demolition of an existing bungalow, with the new properties ranging from two-bedroom flats to five-bedroom houses – of which ten homes will be affordable (i.e. being offered at up to 80 per cent of the market rate).

Since the committee voted to approve the plans in November 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that applications which had secured outline planning permission before August 2020 did not need to provide additional phosphate mitigation at the reserved matters stage.

This ruling – which could see thousands of homes unlocked across Somerset – means that Galion is not required to provide any mitigation to offset the impact of the new homes on the River Brue catchment.

Local resident Nigel Hampton spoke against the revised proposals when the planning committee east met in Shepton Mallet on December 10.

In a statement read out on his behalf, he said: "My main concern is the footpath through the nearby playing field.

"This area was a gift to the village, and any change to the playground needs to be approved by the villagers.

"Until recently, Butleigh Parish Council has always refused to accept such a link, even though they have been approached and possibly pressured by Somerset Council.

"It is now even of less benefit to the villagers as the pub has now closed."

Janet Trimmer, who lives near the site, added: "Today, you bang the last nail in the coffin for Butleigh, as you finally set the precedent for the urbanisation of a rural village.

"This development will stand as a lasting monument to a bad planning decision.

"I have not come across one villager that thought this development should proceed. You have swept objections aside one by one to keep the developer happy.

"You are only interested in increasing housing stock statistics rather than good development. You will build anything on any land, however unsuitable, to improve your statistics."

Councillor Susannah Hart (who represents the neighbouring Glastonbury division) said she found residents' concerns "quite disturbing", adding: "I don't feel it's right to ride roughshod over existing residents to make way for incoming residents.

"The footpath link must be in place before development commences. A link into an existing hedge might as well be a link into a brick wall at the side of someone's house for all the sense it makes."

Councillor Claire Sully (whose Mendip South division includes the site) agreed, stating: "This application is my worst experience of planning [on this council] – it's horrible what has happened to this village.

"The access was never resolved at the outline stage – the can was kicked down the road, and what it's led to is a divided village.

"I think the parish council is trying their best, but they now have pressure from the community – it's heartbreaking.

"We are not anti-housing when we turn down applications. What we're trying to do is to get better applications, and this one is a mess."

Despite these concerns, after around an hour's debate the committee voted to approve the amended plans by eight votes to one, with one abstention.

Negotiations will continue between Galion and Butleigh Parish Council over securing a safe pedestrian access from the new homes to the children's play area on Holm Oaks.

Construction of the new homes is expected to get under way by the spring of 2026 – with the developer also bringing forward 30 new homes at the other end of the village following a £16.6m financing deal with Atelier.