PLANS for 31 homes and two commercial buildings in a Vale village have received fierce criticism from residents.

The scheme would see three hectares of land north west of Charlton Horethorne, accessed via North Road, developed, providing a mixture of one- to four-bedroom homes, including 11 affordable properties.

A green space sits at the centre of the proposed development, while the commercial developments would be built on 0.3 hectares off Harvest Lane.

The application, submitted to Somerset Council by Grassroots Planning on behalf of Oliver Hopkins Estates Ltd, said the scheme would be made up of three one-bed properties, five two-bed properties, 15 three-bed properties and eight four-bed homes.

“Each dwelling will have its own on-plot parking spaces within its curtilage, with detached dwellings having a mix of driveway and garage/carport parking,” the application said.

Meanwhile, the commercial units would have a separate access off Harvest Lane, keeping traffic apart from the residential development.

The proposed layout of the site overlayed on a map of the location in Charlton Horethorne

“Commercial space will provide employment opportunities for residents of Charlton Horethorne and the surrounding area, with the incoming populace the development will bring,” the application said.

“As most of Charlton Horethorne is within 10-minute walking distance, the intention is that employed locals can walk or cycle.”

However, the plans have met with strong criticism from villagers.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England in Somerset (CPRE) is among those objecting to the scheme, with the Sherborne and District Society CPRE.

The groups said the development would not be of suitable scale and character for the village.

“Despite tree planting in mitigation, it would result in the loss of a large and attractive area of open countryside adjacent to the northern side of the village, adversely affecting its character, appearance, setting and local distinctiveness,” they said.

Residents say the development would harm the character of the village. Picture: Orme/Somerset Council

Their response added: “In our view, these harms to the village landscape setting and to the settings of the conservation area and the listed buildings, cannot be mitigated in any meaningful way.”

One villager wrote the plans showed “too many houses for this site”.

“Lack of affordable housing, loss of agricultural farmland,” they went on. “Will existing utilities cope with all this development?

“Harvest Lane/North Road junction visibility, for road safety, needs to be improved.”

For more details, and to comment on the scheme, log on to www.somerset.gov.uk and search for planning application reference 23/02275/HYBRID.