1,600 homes approved to support Taunton garden town status

Taunton’s status as one of the UK’s new ‘garden towns’ has been boosted with more than 1,600 houses approved at the council’s latest planning meeting.Two developments were approved at Taunton Deane Borough Council’s planning committee earlier this week (24 October 2017).A scheme from Ptarmigan Staplegrove Ltd comprises up to 713 homes, employment land, green infrastructure, landscaping, play area and sustainable urban drainage systems at Staplegrove (west).Plans for up to 915 homes, a primary school, employment land, local centre and open space on land at Staplegrove (east) site, from PM Asset Management, have also been approved.The applications were initially considered by the council’s in September 2017 but deferred for further consideration and for officers to negotiate with both applicants on matters including access, affordable housing provision and wider traffic implications.Both applications included provision for a spine road to connect the A358 Staplegrove Road and Kingston Road. The council has recently submitted a bid to the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to help secure the early construction of the road and wider community infrastructure.The developments at Staplegrove represent one of the three new garden communities being planned by the Borough Council under its garden Town status.Taunton was named as the only new garden town in the South West by the government at the start of this year.