PLANS for a further 1,500 homes, new school, a bus-only route, and a bypass on Taunton’s eastern edge have gone out to public consultation.

Somerset West and Taunton Council is asking for the public’s views on its master-plan for phase two of the Monkton Heathfield urban extension, which was originally meant to deliver 4,500 new houses.

The council published drafts proposals for phase two in late-January, which were subject to low-level consultation with residents living in the parishes of West Monkton and Creech St Michael, where the development is situated.

The amended proposals – including a detailed design guide for the housing developers involved – will now go out to the wider public for feedback.

These amended plans were presented to the council’s executive committee at a virtual meeting held on Wednesday evening (May 20).

The key changes made to the plans presented in January are as follows:

The impact of additional traffic on all local roads will be considered – not just the A38, A3259 and other main roads

Any traffic mitigation will be designed to prevent rat-running through the existing villages

The area between phase one and phase two will be “subject to detailed design” to ensure both communities are “properly integrated”

Additional bus gates or bus corridors will be discussed when plans come forward from developers, not beforehand

The bus gate at Procktors Farm will still be implemented, since this was part of a legal agreement for phase one between the developers and Somerset County Council.

Despite these concessions, some locals felt the master-plan did not sufficiently take residents’ concerns into account – including those of people living in phase one of the development area.

Simon Hutchings, chairman of Creech St Michael Parish Council, said: “We don’t want an exit onto Hyde Lane from the proposed industrial site – the entrance should be off the eastern relief road roundabout.

“Hyde Lane is a safe route to the school, and an exit would require students to cross the road. There are 50-tonne lorries, vans and cars exiting and then rat-running as a shortcut through our village past the school and connecting to the A358 and M5.”

A new school which can accommodate up to 420 pupils will be constructed in the centre of the phase two site.

Mark Besley of West Monkton Parish Council added: “There is real concern that closing the A38 between the Langaller and cricket club roundabouts will result in high levels of local business traffic, including HGVs, having to go through the district centre.

“It is unclear how the total pedestrianisation of this stretch of the current A38 could still mean the road being retained for local traffic provision.”

Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for planning policy and transport, gave a distinctly Yes, Minister-esque response to the concerns raised.

He said: “It’s important to set out here that what we’re doing is engaging in a consultation – we’re beginning a consultation.

“We’ve actually had some consultation on the consultation, but we seem to be being asked for consultation on that consultation.

“If we’re not careful, we’ll just end up stuck in a loop – we need to start the consultation.”

Councillor Peter Pilkington, portfolio holder for climate change, described the master-plan as “exciting”.

He said: “I really do hope the developers take on the fact that we are committed to climate change and sustainability – we have worked hard to create a carbon mitigation plan to get us to carbon neutrality by 2030.

“This development will play into that, but we won’t be able to do it by ourselves – this is something the residents will need to buy into.

“The consultation, when it comes back, will be driven by our sustainability and climate change action plan.”

The consultation materials – including detailed versions of the master-plan – will be published on the council’s website in the next few weeks.

A planning application covering phase two of Monkton Heathfield is expected to be submitted later in the year.

Mr Rigby added: “There is a pressing need to set out our vision for the development and to set down key design principles to ensure the highest quality proposals are delivered.

“There is considerable common ground with the developers of the site (Persimmon Homes and Redrow Homes) and the local community, and it is expected that the application, when submitted, will closely align with much of our design aspirations for the area.”

It is believed the council will publish the consultation documents in the coming weeks.