Work on 280 new homes in a growing Somerset village could begin before the end of the year after revised plans were approved by councillors.

The Ninesquare Trust secured outline planning permission from Mendip District Council in January 2023 to build up to 280 homes on land west of the B3151 Somerton Road in Street, a stone's throw from the prestigious Millfield School.

The site was subsequently sold to Curo Enterprise Ltd., which put forward revised proposals for the same number of homes in December 2023.

Somerset Council's planning committee east has now given the plans the green light, meaning the first bricks could begin being laid before Christmas.

The site is one of four in Street allocated for housing within the Mendip Local Plan Part II, which identified additional sites to meet the former district's housing needs up to 2029.

Access will be from a new junction onto Somerton Road near the northern end of the site, with the existing pavements along the eastern edge being enhanced.

The new homes will range from one-bedroom flats to four-bedroom houses, with 30 per cent of the new properties being affordable (the equivalent of 84 dwellings), being offered as either social rent or shared ownership.

Curo (which is based in Bath) has also confirmed it will seek grant funding from Homes England to deliver an additional 11 homes within the site as social rent, rather than selling them at full market price.

Stuart Smith, Curo's technical and commercial director, said: "As a housing association and house-builder, our mission is to provide high-quality homes for those who need them most.

"We're really proud of the homes we build and excited to offer them to the local community.

"We want to maximise our impact, so we'll be applying for additional grant funding to convert 11 more homes to social rent, increasing the number of social homes within this development."

The committee (which handles major applications within the former Mendip area) voted to grant permission by ten votes to zero (with one abstention) when it convened in Shepton Mallet on March 4.

The committee insisted that further conditions be added to ensure the new hours would be fitted with solar panels, heat pumps and efficiency measures to reduce water usage.

A central wetland area will be created within the site connected by a boardwalk, linking the various communal green spaces and helping to offset the phosphate impact of the new homes (on top of fallowing agricultural land elsewhere within the River Brue catchment).

New orchards and allotments will be provided within the site, with new trees and hedgerows also being planted to deliver the ten per cent biodiversity net gain for new developments which is now required by law.

The development will also provide nearly £2m for improving local schools – though the council has not confirmed how this will be divided between primary, secondary and special needs provision.

Peter Roberts, Curo's head of planning, added: "This development is located on the south-eastern edge of Street, so we've taken great care to create a scheme that respects the area's natural beauty while forming an attractive gateway to the village.

"Working with our architects, we're excited to bring forward this striking central wetland and boardwalk feature which we are confident will be enjoyed by all residents – both new and old."

Curo is currently delivering 198 new homes at the Keyford Meadows development site on Sandys Hill Lane in Frome, which was granted permission in June 2022.

The developer secured permission in November 2024 for a further 54 homes on the Underhill Farm site in Midsomer Norton following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate (which Somerset Council declined to defend).

Construction work on the Somerton Road site is expected to commence before the end of the year, meaning the first properties could be put on sale in 2026.