Ongoing efforts to deliver new social housing in Glastonbury and Street are being hampered by the phosphates crisis.

Following the Dutch N court ruling, Natural England issued advice to Somerset's four district councils, requiring them to provide additional mitigation for any development which could increase phosphate levels on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

Mendip District Council has been pushing forward numerous social housing schemes, working with housing associations to deliver low-cost accommodation on its own land – including under-used car parks.

But its efforts have been stymied by the need to secure the appropriate mitigation, meaning construction on two of the sites may not begin until much later in the year.

The council originally identified five sites across the district in November 2020 where new social housing could be delivered – namely:

– Easthill in Frome (77 houses adjoining the cemetery and railway line)

– Portland Road in Street (33 houses adjoining the cemetery)

– Cranhill Road in Street (29 houses on the western half of the existing car park)

– North Parade in Frome (up to 17 homes on the rear part of the existing car park)

– Norbins Road in Glastonbury (six houses on the existing car park, with access to St John's School being retained)

The Easthill site was withdrawn by the council in May 2021 following a considerable local backlash, with council leader Ros Wyke promising the field would not be developed for the remainder of the council's existence.

Efforts to secure the field's long-term future – including its fate under the new unitary Somerset Council which assumes control in April 2023 – will be discussed by the council's cabinet on Monday, May 23.

The Cranhill Road site in Street remains on hold pending the outcome of an investigation into an alternative, third-party site, which began in August 2021.

Of the three remaining sites, formal planning applications have been submitted by Aster Housing for the Portland Road scheme in Street (also known as Cemetery Lane) and the new homes on Norbins Road in Glastonbury.

However, officers told a meeting of the council's scrutiny board in Shepton Mallet on Tuesday evening (May 17) that both schemes were being delayed as a result of the Dutch N ruling.

A spokesman said: "Both applications are within the part of Mendip affected by the requirement for phosphate mitigation measures to be identified and implemented prior to a planning decision being issued.

"This is the main obstacle to progressing these applications."

On the third of the original sites (North Parade in Frome), progress has been delayed by legal issues surrounding a "land swap" with the adjoining Farleigh Further Education College – though these negotiations are said to be "well-advanced".

The site will eventually become the base for up to 18 low-cost homes, delivered by Stonewater.

In addition to these sites, the council's cabinet voted in principle in March in favour of LiveWest building up to 15 low-cost homes on the B3136 West Shepton in Shepton Mallet, near the town's football club.

Officers told the scrutiny committee: "The primary focus for the coming months will be on exchanging contracts on the sale at North Parade in Frome, plus assisting in the preparation of a planning application at West Shepton, Shepton Mallet."