Information from East Coker Parish Council
The South Somerset District Council (SSDC) Draft Core Strategy gives planning guidelines and a “vision for South Somerset” up to 2026 and has an urban extension to Yeovil as one of its ‘key objectives’. The ‘Keyford’ area to the south of Yeovil is the ‘preferred option’ for the extension and is within the parish of East Coker. Since the public consultation at the end of 2010 there have been a number of further influential studies, many of which did not support an urban extension to the south of Yeovil. There is much talk now of a potential site to the north-west of Yeovil.
East Coker Parish Council has studied the Draft Core Strategy and its evidence base in detail. We have been involved in formal consultation with SSDC, as well as repeatedly responding to many supporting documents and reports pointing out inaccuracies, flaws and missing information.
Our concerns can be summarised as follows: East Coker Parish Council continues to have severe doubts regarding the SSDC Draft Core Strategy and questions the need for the vast number of houses proposed for the Yeovil area.
East Coker Parish Council will continue to demonstrate that any urban extension to the South of Yeovil: 1. is not in the best interests of the local community, including East Coker Parish; 2. does not safeguard our environment; 3. does not meet the criteria of the current and proposed national planning regulations.
East Coker Parish Council would like to be sure we are representing the views of the parish, hence the open meeting. If you wish to contact East Coker Parish Council you can write to [email protected] or come and see us on the second Wednesday of every month, 7pm at the Pavilion, Long Furlong lane, East Coker.
The finalised Core Strategy has not yet been published and the proposals are not a done deal . If you feel strongly about the Draft Core Strategy and/or an Urban Extension to Yeovil then your voice should be heard. We have provided you with details for key contacts below you may wish to write to although this is not an exhaustive list. If you would like further details do contact East Coker Parish Council.
South Somerset District Council: Andy Foyne (Spatial Policy Manager) Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil, BA20 2HT [email protected],uk
Your Member of Parliament: David Laws MP House Of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA [email protected]
Council Leader: Cllr Ric Pallister Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil, BA20 2HT [email protected]
Your Local District Councillors (Coker Ward) : Cllr Cathy Bakewell (District Councillor, Coker Ward) & Cllr Gina Seaton (District Councillor, Coker Ward) Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil, BA20 2HT [email protected] , [email protected] The Issues – A Summary
Predicted Population Growth : It is predicted that South Somerset will have a vast housing requirement in the future. This is based on figures of high population increase in the area from 2003 to 2007. Since 2007, this has tailed off and in recent years there has been very little population increase. Therefore, the prediction for the number of houses required by 2026 is highly questionable.
Do we need an Urban Extension? Despite concerns raised, an urban extension to Yeovil is a ‘key objective’ of the Draft Core Strategy. An urban extension can raise money for the District Council although this is not always significant and the distribution of the money is not decided by the immediate community. The proposed dispersal of housing can be questioned. Yeovil is due to receive far more housing than is proportionate to its size, to the detriment of other towns and villages. If the housing was spread more equally and proportionally among the towns and villages it has the potential to sustain more communities, in particular rural ones.
This could be aided by increasing the housing density at the Yeovil ‘key sites’ (Lyde Road, Brimsmore and Brympton/Bunford) where permission has already been granted but where building has hardly started and by allowing natural windfall (extra houses built in a large garden, a derelict house replaced with two) to be factored in.
The Yeovil Urban Extension
A Yeovil urban extension (approximately 2,500+ houses, employment land, local services etc) at ‘Keyford’ vs. a ‘north-west’ option may take in the following issues:
Grade 1 Agricultural Land: There is Grade 1 Agricultural land immediately to the south of Yeovil compared with land of lower grades on all other sides. Grade 1 agricultural land can grow a greater variety of crops, graze a wider range of livestock and provides a greater and more consistent yield. It is a rare commodity and a key part of future food security particularly with the current move towards locally produced food and reduction of food miles.
Traffic: Development at Keyford would see increased traffic use within East Coker, roads to the south of Yeovil and routes to the A303. This increased road use would significantly increase congestion and pollution. Development to the north-west of Yeovil would not have such a significant effect upon the Yeovil road network and greater proximity to the A303 would ease accessibility for vehicles involved in construction. The latest reports state that an upgrade to the A303 Cartgate junction would not be necessary for a development to the north.
Walking/Cycling/Public Transport: The steep slopes of Hendford Hill, Forest Hill, Bunford and Ninesprings Country Park discourage walking and cycling from Keyford and any alternative route is lengthy. A north-west location has a significantly flatter route to Yeovil town centre and is in close proximity to the future ‘Brimsmore’ key site which will bring improvements to public transport.
Impact upon the rural Community: Any development at Keyford would physically divide areas of East Coker Parish (and possibly Barwick), would be visible from nearly all of East Coker and several kilometres of Dorset including its Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. An urban extension at Keyford with its own schools could also have severe impact upon East Coker and Barwick primary schools. A location north-west of Yeovil is not so close to the existing villages.
Employment: A location to the north-west of Yeovil would be next to the Houndstone and Lufton trading estates and have good access to the future ‘Bunford’ and Seafire Business Parks. Keyford is not adjacent to any existing trading estate or key site and there is the steep escarpment between Keyford and the Lynx Trading Estate and Westlands.
Historic Environment: East Coker and the Keyford site contain over eighty listed buildings (three Grade I Listed in the village), two Conservation Areas and one Scheduled Ancient Monument (the site of the Roman Villa near Keyford).