OPPOSITION is growing to plans up to 200 new homes to the west of Charlton Road in Keynsham.
Persimmon Homes Severn Valley is seeking outline permission from Bath & North East Somerset Council for the development.
A number of residents have registered their objections and Keynsham Town Council is also opposed.
Councillor Alan Hale (Independent, Keynsham South) wrote to B&NES Council expressing his objection to the proposals when they were revealed last autumn.
He said Charlton Road was already over-burdened with traffic and that the extra vehicles generated by the proposed development would make matters worse.
He recently said on Facebook: “The other district councillors, like me, are well aware of the need for social housing and that is being strongly addressed in the new local plan that is being brought forward.
“The plan is looking to place developments in the correct place and not overload an already very busy road.”
B&NES Council’s draft local plan sets out where new developments could go, in response to the government’s directive that the council needs to find space for 27,000 new homes to be built by 2043.
It earmarks potential sites for more than 4,000 new homes in the town, including between 300 and 400 on green fields to the west of Charlton Road.
The planning application had attracted 53 objections and four comments in support before the deadline for comments through the B&NES Council planning portal passed on February 21.
Keynsham Town Council objected to the plans following a meeting of its planning committee.
In its consultation response to B&NES Council, it said: “The council considers the proposal to be inappropriate, excessive in scale, and entirely out of keeping with the character of the area.”
The town council said extra traffic generated on Charlton Road would create the risk of ‘rat-running’ through nearby streets. It was also concerned about the lack of pedestrian crossings near the site, poor public transport, and the loss of wildlife habitat.
The town council added that the site currently acted as a natural soakaway for rainwater. Building homes, roads and hardstanding would increase surface water run-off, placing extra pressure on an already inadequate drainage network.
“This creates a very real and unacceptable risk of flooding to nearby homes, land, and highways, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall,” it said.
The town council also noted that sewage and wastewater systems serving adjacent developments had yet to be adopted due to “sub-standard construction.” It said a full assessment of foul sewer capacity was needed to ensure the network could cope with the proposed development.
It added that the site should only be assessed in conjunction with other potential housing sites under the B&NES local plan, so that the full impact of development within Keynsham South could be properly considered as a whole.
The main concerns residents cited have been about extra traffic and the pressure on the town’s already struggling infrastructure.
One objector stated: “While I acknowledge the need to build houses, it simply cannot be at the expense of other key services in the town. The infrastructure is already creaking, including GPs, dentists, police presence and schools.
“Charlton Road is already a death trap and the traffic currently using it is already not fit for purpose. It also supposedly has a weight limit that’s being ignore and will be bypassed to build these houses over the course of years.”
Another added: “There have been electrical outages in the existing new developments already and two burst water mains on Charlton Road recently. The new development would put further strain to the electricity and water infrastructure and disruption to residence of vital supplies.”
There are also worries about the loss of green space and the threat to wildlife such as bats, badgers, foxes, and birds.
Another concern raised was about drainage and surface water management.
One person said: “These fields currently absorb rainwater naturally. Replacing them with hard surfaces such as roads, roofs, and pavements will significantly increase surface water runoff, with no clear indication of where this excess water would go.”
Two people supporting the application cited Keynsham’s need for extra properties, with many families desperate for housing.
Although there are no detailed proposals at this stage, it is envisaged that 45% of the new homes would be “affordable”.
Two access roads are proposed – one from the existing three-arm Charlton Road/Linnet Way roundabout and another about 25 metres north of the Aesop Drive junction. The development would have open green spaces, allotments, a community orchard, equipped play areas and an informal kick-about area.
Construction would take between one to two years.
Residents oppose 200 homes plan west of Charlton Road
