HUNDREDS of Taunton residents have signed a petition calling on the district council to protect a local stream from being polluted by a major new housing development.

Taunton Deane Borough Council granted outline permission in April 2018 for 2,000 new homes to be built between the A38 Wellington Road near Rumwell and Honiton Road in Trull.

A consortium of three developers – Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes and Summerfield Developments – have put forward detailed plans to Somerset West and Taunton Council for new pumping stations to handle the sewage produced by the new homes and any additional surface water run-off.

But residents believe the pumping station will damage the Galmington Stream which runs through the development site, leading to a higher risk of pollution and flooding for local homes.

The petition – started on the Change.org website by ‘Comeytrowe Residents’ – has received more than 1,200 signatures as of Monday afternoon (June 1).

The developers intend to construct three small facilities – a foul sewage pumping station, a water booster station and gas pressure reducing station – off Comeytrowe Lane, which runs through the middle of the development site near the Galmington Stream.

But the residents’ group argues these stations will put both the development site and Taunton town centre “under threat of serious flooding and pollution”, both during and after construction.

A group spokesman said: “The stream is a haven for wildlife that runs through the west side of Taunton into the town centre and is home to little egret, kingfishers, otters and other species of wildlife and waterfowl.

“It is enjoyed by plenty of the residents, where children and dogs play in the stream which runs through the back gardens of the local community.

“These stations are frequently at risk of blockages and flooding during high rainfall, at which point raw sewage will be allowed to spill’ into the nearest waterway – in this case the Galmington Stream.

“If we do not ensure that these pumping stations are relocated elsewhere, we risk losing the wildlife population that exists in and around the stream and making the lives of residents very unpleasant.”

The developers admitted within the outline planning permission that the risk of the site or Taunton town centre flooding would increase in the event of “intense localised rainfall” unless mitigation was put in place.

They also acknowledged the “potential for silt laden run-off and pollutants entering the Galmington Stream” and being carried downstream into the town centre.

The residents’ group has called on the developers to relocate these facilities in “a more suitable and sustainable area” to prevent these outcomes.

A spokesman said: “The developers have hundreds of acres on which to position this utility site.

“We only ask that they move the compound away from Galmington Stream and residents, to somewhere safer.”

The petition has been addressed to council leader Federica Smith-Roberts, as well as planning committee chairman Simon Coles, and Councillors Habib Farbahi and Simon Nicholls – two of the three ward members for Comeytrowe and Bishop’s Hull.

The council’s planning committee approved plans in March for the western end of the new spine road, which will run from the A38 to the proposed new primary school.

Plans for the first 70 homes to be built on the site – near the proposed ‘park and bus’ area at the site’s western edge – are expected to be decided later in the year.

The council is expected to make a decision on the pumping station plans after June 18.

To sign the petition, visit www.change.org/p/cllr-f-smith-roberts-somersetwestandtaunton-gov-uk-protect-taunton-s-galmington-stream-at-risk-from-flooding-and-pollution.