Protecting Rural Character in a Newly Unified Authority
Somerset Council was formed in April 2023 through the merger of Somerset County Council with the four former district councils of Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, and South Somerset. The new unitary authority covers an expansive rural landscape encompassing 15 conservation areas recorded on the national planning data platform, thousands of listed buildings spanning medieval churches and Georgian market towns, and an historic environment record with over 40,000 entries. Until the forthcoming Somerset Local Plan 2045 is adopted — currently projected for 2029 — the former district Local Plans remain part of the development plan, creating a complex policy landscape where objections must engage the correct legacy plan for the application site. Our work in Somerset has addressed new dwelling proposals, backland development, landscape harm, and the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land.
Planning Voice has prepared objection letters within the Somerset Council area, covering proposals ranging from a self-build dwelling in a village to a 125-home outline application on agricultural land. These objections have raised material grounds including harm to landscape character, loss of privacy, loss of best and most versatile agricultural land, highway safety, and overdevelopment of sensitive rural and village edge sites.
Somerset’s historic villages are characterised by spacious plots, generous separation between dwellings, and a visual relationship between built form and the surrounding countryside. We have objected to proposed self-build dwellings on backland behind existing properties where the established pattern features well-separated houses with a sense of openness. Proposed infill dwellings can disrupt that rhythm and create a cramped, overdeveloped appearance out of keeping with surroundings. Where the widely accepted 21-metre separation distance between facing habitable room windows cannot be achieved, direct overlooking into homes and gardens results. Elevated topography compounds these impacts, as higher ground positions intensify the sense of intrusion.
Proposals for detached dwellings, garages, and outbuildings on steeply sloping hillsides raise concerns about landscape character that go beyond the standard considerations for a single dwelling. Where application sites mark a visual transition between historic villages and open views over surrounding vales, the position and massing of new buildings relative to previously approved schemes is critical. Pushing two-storey mass and garages further into the foreground of a site alters the relationship between built form and surrounding countryside. The harm to local distinctiveness and the wider landscape setting of villages forms a central ground of objection, supported by both local policy and the NPPF.
We have objected to outline applications for up to 125 new dwellings with associated access, open space, and drainage infrastructure on behalf of groups of local residents. Where sites include land classified as Subgrade 3a — best and most versatile agricultural land under Natural England’s classification — the NPPF requires development to be directed toward poorer quality land where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary. Our objections have also raised landscape impact, highway safety, and the cumulative strain on local infrastructure including schools and health services. These applications illustrate the scale of development pressure facing Somerset’s rural settlements, where strategic housing allocations from the former district plans continue to generate major applications on countryside sites.
Across our Somerset caseload, a recurring theme has been the tension between the desire to accommodate housing growth and the need to protect the dispersed settlement pattern that defines the county’s landscape. Proposals for new dwellings in sensitive rural locations raise concerns about the cumulative impact of intensifying development. Each proposal must be assessed on its own merits, and the existence of a previous permission or a nearby precedent does not override the requirement to demonstrate that a new scheme is acceptable in planning terms.
Somerset’s planning decisions are currently determined against the relevant legacy Local Plan for each area, with the NPPF providing the overarching national policy framework.
If a planning application in Somerset affects your property or community, we will assess your case free of charge and advise whether there are material planning grounds to object. Whether the application concerns a single dwelling in a village or a major housing scheme, our Chartered Town Planners will identify the relevant legacy Local Plan policies and NPPF paragraphs, then draft a precise and professionally grounded objection. Contact us with the application reference for a same-day assessment.
Or call: 01157 365085
Somerset Council was formed in April 2023 by merging four district councils, each of which had its own adopted Local Plan. Until the new Somerset Local Plan 2045 is adopted — currently projected for 2029 — the relevant legacy plan for your site continues to form part of the statutory development plan. If your site is in the former South Somerset area (including Yeovil, Chard, and Wincanton), the South Somerset Local Plan applies. Sites in the former Mendip area (including Frome, Glastonbury, and Shepton Mallet) fall under the Mendip Local Plan. The Sedgemoor Core Strategy covers Bridgwater and Burnham-on-Sea, while the Taunton Deane Core Strategy applies to Taunton and Wellington. Our Chartered Town Planners will identify the correct plan for your location.
Yes, provided there are material planning grounds. Common grounds for objecting to new dwellings in Somerset’s villages include harm to the established settlement pattern, loss of privacy through inadequate separation distances, landscape impact on the transition between the village and open countryside, and highway safety on narrow rural lanes. The key is to demonstrate conflict with the relevant Local Plan policies and the NPPF rather than simply opposing the principle of development.
Best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land is classified as Grades 1, 2, and Subgrade 3a under Natural England’s Agricultural Land Classification system. The NPPF states that where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be preferred to those of higher quality. Somerset contains extensive tracts of productive farmland, and proposals to develop BMV land must demonstrate that no reasonable alternative exists on lower-grade sites.
The creation of Somerset Council as a unitary authority in April 2023 consolidated the planning function under a single local planning authority. However, planning decisions are still determined against the adopted development plan for each area, which means the four legacy district Local Plans remain in force. In practice, this means an objection in Shepton Mallet cites different Local Plan policies from an objection in Bridgwater, even though both are now determined by the same council.
Yes. We have objected to outline applications for large-scale housing developments in Somerset, addressing strategic issues including loss of agricultural land, landscape impact, highway capacity, infrastructure strain, and the planning balance under the NPPF. Major development objections are priced at £450 and are prepared to the same professional standard as our standard letters, with the additional depth of policy analysis that strategic applications demand.
Send us the application reference and we will assess your grounds the same day. No charge, no obligation.