A five-year planning battle over travellers' pitches in a Somerset village has been delayed again amid fresh concerns about how sewage from the site is being treated.

Somerset Council's planning committee east voted on Monday, February 3, to defer a decision on the Wood Lane site in Butleigh, near Glastonbury, for up to six months. Councillors said they needed clarity over whether a septic tank or a package treatment plant has been installed.

Joshua Longhurst-Roberts, who runs Butleigh Landscaping, secured permission from Mendip District Council in November 2018 to site six static caravans as holiday lets. After clearing the land and installing three caravans, he applied in September 2020 for partially retrospective permission to retain them as travellers' pitches.

A decision has been repeatedly delayed, partly due to the phosphates crisis affecting development across the Somerset Levels and Moors.

The three caravans are currently occupied by related members of the same traveller family. Plans for the site include an orchard, vegetable patch and wild garden area, alongside play facilities.

During a site visit in January, planning officers noted a septic tank had been installed and two shipping containers placed on the land, one of which was being used as "overspill accommodation".

Speaking against the plans, local resident Mark White told the committee the septic tank "discharges into a stream, which is illegal".

"In spite of saying they want to fit in with the community, the applicant has not improved the site in the five years they have been there; in fact, it's worse now," he said.

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Neighbour Andy Coleman urged councillors to delay a decision until the waste issue was resolved and ecology reports obtained.

"We know the pressure your officers are under to agree such sites, but that should not be at the expense of your own policies and guidelines," he said.

Chief planning officer Alison Blom-Cooper has previously acknowledged the council is relying heavily on staff from Lichfield District Council to carry out planning enforcement work.

Gemma Johnson, who lives on the site, said the septic tank had been inspected during the recent visit and recently emptied. She said the family held records from the Environment Agency confirming the sewage system was suitable for up to six plots.

"We are committed to being good neighbours," she said, adding that a native hedge had been planted along the boundary and that shipping containers would be addressed in line with local guidance.

Richard Burdett, a Butleigh resident since 1972, told councillors the village had lost its pub and shop and argued the proposal offered an alternative to larger housing developments.

In December 2025, the same committee approved plans for 32 homes on Sub Road, close to the Wood Lane site.

Senior planning officer Simon Trafford said officers had received conflicting information about the sewage infrastructure.

"We've been told one thing, the public speakers have been told another thing through a third party," he said. "We haven't had any of the paperwork which would have been provided when that infrastructure was installed."

Councillor Ros Wyke, who chaired the meeting, said: "This is beginning to feel like we are going down a rabbit hole. I'm not convinced that we've got the enforcement capacity on this."

Councillors voted eight to three, with one abstention, to defer the application for up to six months pending further information.

Reporting: Daniel Mumby/LDRS

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