PLANS to add 94 more homes to Chard’s southern border have been slammed by Chard’s town council.

The application by Summerfield Homes to add 94 new houses to Thorhild, a field off Tatworth Road, cam before the town’s planning committee on Monday.

The site falls in the Jocelyn ward, and recently re-elected councillor Dave Bulmer was heavily critical of the proposals.

He said: “They (Summerfield Homes) have done a pre-application consultation with the local people, and this is the application they informed the council about a few months ago.

“At that time I raised the issue of the footpath going into Holbear.

“Because there is no vehicle access, there is the potential for crime and disorder. It would be an easy escape route for criminals, and police would have to go all the way around Grange Park.”

Cllr Bulmer also took issue with the density of the site.

He added: “I feel that with the adjacent site from Persimmon reducing its numbers, that the Summerfield development is similar to what Persimmon was.

“94 dwellings is far too much, and the design and layout to be honest could be vastly improved.”

The application is next to another site which is already set for 200 homes. It is also bordered by an application by Persimmon to build 315 homes, but that has not been approved yet.

Cllr Bulmer said: “They tell us the convent link junction is over capacity but but severe, which baffles me.

“The accumulative impact of the three developments has to be looked at.

“There are 6,000 properties in Chard. If all three go ahead, that is another 10 per cent added to the town.”

Cllr Cath Morrison was worried about the lack of service available in the town.

She said: “Any big development sites now, we have to look at infrastructure.

“We need a GPs surgery, we need more school placements - we need a new school - and the roads need to be updated.

“It is not just the impact on Holbear, it is the impact on the town as a whole.”

The three major planning applications are in an area south of Chard which has been marked out for development.

It was not planned to be built up until after areas to the east of the town, but the town and district are both behind on housing targets.

This has meant developers trying to move the south Chard phase forward to get new dwellings built.

Chard Town Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to recommended refusal on the Summerfield application.