Shudrick Valley, Ilminster could be saved - thanks to Google (From This is The West Country)

Shudrick Valley, Ilminster could be saved - thanks to Google

8:30am Saturday 28th July 2012 in News

THE beautiful Shudrick Valley in Ilminster could still be saved from the bulldozers thanks to a simple search on Google.

Ilminster man Rob Drayton told the News he was looking on Google for an unrelated Ilminster matter when he came across a report from highways company W.S. Atkins about a possible relief road through the area of the town between Shudrick Lane and Townsend.

“I wondered what it was, and discovered it was a report commissioned by South Somerset District Council about an eastern relief road and 332 homes along the valley as part of the new Local Plan,” he said.

“I was quite shocked because as far as I knew the homes were proposed for Canal Way and nothing as far as I was aware had been said about a change.

“I knew others probably hadn’t heard about it, so I spread the word with a leaflet through doors.

“No-one I contacted had heard about the change, and by that stage the plan had been agreed by the district council.”

But Mr Drayton said: “This isn’t about me – this is about trying to protect Shudrick Valley for future generations for the whole town.”

Mr Drayton was among more than 150 people at last week’s meeting at the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster.

He said at the meeting he hoped lessons may have been learnt by the district council over the apparent lack of public consultation about the Shudrick Valley development.

Mr Drayton said: “There hasn’t been enough consultation from the district or town councils over this.

“I hope something has been learnt from this for future consultations.”

South Somerset District Council leader Cllr Ric Pallister, said: “If I could turn the clock back I’m sure we’d have done it differently.”