Approval for 437 houses and new home for football club

Plans for 437 houses and a new home for Chard Town FC have been approved.Two separate planning applications for developments in Chard, which has a population of about 12,500 people, were approved by South Somerset District Council’s regulation committee despite being recommended for refusal.The first was for sports facilities and 295 dwellings at Mount Hindrance Lane and the second for 142 homes at a neighbouring site in Crimchard.Proposed facilities at Mount Hindrance Lane include two pitches for Chard Town FC, one public pitch, a stand for spectators, a clubhouse, a mixed-use centre with shops and 295 homes consisting of two to five bed houses and flats. Mactaggart & Mickel Homes was the applicant.The Crimchard development by Barratt Homes would comprise 142 homes and a play area with provisions for open space.Planning officers at Somerset Council’s Area West recommended both applications for refusal. They said the negative impact of the Mount Hindrance Lane proposal would outweigh its benefits, being in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), while it was also thought the development at Crimchard would fail to provide safe access.It was also claimed said that both developments would go against South Somerset’s Local Plan.In a design and access statement, D2 Planning Ltd said on behalf of applicant Mactaggart & Mickel Homes that the Mount Hindrance Lane development was needed as the council “cannot demonstrate a 5 year supply of deliverable houses”.A previous application for 350 houses, pitches, a clubhouse and spectator facilities at the site was turned down in 2015.