Bruton will be getting a brand new medical centre after plans for 65 new homes were approved by councillors.

Woolsington One Ltd. put forward plans in late-2020 to build 65 new homes on land to the north of Brewham Road, as well as allocating land for a new doctors' surgery to replace the existing facility on Patwell Lane.

Somerset Council's planning committee south (which handles major applications within the former South Somerset area) voted to delay a decision on the plans twice in 2024, with councillors complaining the designs would "make life miserable for everyone" in the town.

But the committee has now had a change of heart, approving the plans at the third time of asking on Tuesday (January 28) and paving the way for a new doctors' surgery to be delivered.

The new homes (including 23 affordable properties) will be accessed from Wyvern Close, with the existing cul-de-sac being extended into a spine road and the northern edge of the site being largely allocated at public open space.

Double yellow lines will be installed on Wyvern Close and a short stretch of Brue Avenue to prevent the entrance to the new development from being obstructed by parked cars.

The new medical centre will be constructed at the northern end of the development, with a separate access being created off Cuckoo Hill (closer to the A359) at a later date.

Bruton resident Alistair Parry spoke against the proposals when the council's planning committee south met in Yeovil on Tuesday afternoon (January 28).

He said: "The Wyvern Close entrance will be the narrowest entrance of any development in Bruton in the last 40 years. It will be like driving 90 cars in and out of someone's driveway.

"South Somerset District Council previously determined that Eastfield was unsuitable for additional traffic. Please don't change your minds today."

Ewan Jones, who sits on Bruton Town Council, added: "We should not consider this site at all for the medical centre. It will become a white elephant.

"The best location for the surgery is at the southern end near Brewham Road, which would provide level access to the town centre. You should reject this application until it's brought back with a surgery at that site."

Since the plans were last discussed in November 2024, the government has published a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out the legal basis on which planning applications can be determined.

The new NPPF includes higher housing targets for Somerset, as part of the government's push to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament.

In the absence of a five-year housing land supply, applications can now only be refused if there is "strong" evidence that the harm created by a development would outweigh the benefits of delivering new housing or employment space.

Matthew Roberts of Symphony Healthcare Services (which runs Bruton Surgery) said that this development was the only viable way of delivering improved medical facilities in the town.

He explained: "A new GP surgery is sorely needed in Bruton, with the existing practice currently being 162 per cent over-subscribed.

"We have explored various potential locations in the town in recent years, but none of them are available or viable.

"The vacated Bruton School for Girls has also been considered, and we have been regularly told by the landowners' agents that the site is not available for a GP practice and is much too large for our use alone. This proposal is the only option."

The existing surgery was identified as needing to expand or relocate by NHS bosses as far back as September 2020.

 Councillor Lucy Trimnell (whose Wincanton and Bruton division includes the site) said: "Many of the existing properties on Eastfield and Brue Avenue are sheltered housing and bungalows for the elderly.

"Wyvern Close is a narrow point of entry for an estate of this size, and there is likely to be congestion. Access would be far more suitable from Brewham Road.

"Housing has to be the right type in the right place."

Councillor Tom Power (who represents the same division) concurred: "It is not safe to put the doctors' surgery at the northern end of the site. Patients will park their cars outside the existing houses.

"I don't want this on my conscience. The affordable homes in here will most likely be for young families, and I don't feel it will be safe for their children to walk to school, because the traffic will be so heightened."

Councillor Peter Seib (Brympton) took a different view, stating: "My concerns at the top end will be dealt with when the top end of the site comes forward.

"While the road is not a main road, it is a passable estate road. People adjust their parking – they aren't daft.

"I think this is totally passable, and I don't think anyone's going to be travelling at speed, looking at their phone or anything – it's a narrow, winding road so people will be paying full attention."

After around an hour's debate, the committee voted to approve the plans by eight votes to one, with one abstention.

A separate application for the doctors' surgery will be brought forward by Symphony Healthcare Services in due course.

The council is also expected to make a ruling by the summer on Strongvox Homes' plans for a further 49 homes on the A359 Cuckoo Hill, which would include a footpath leading to the doctors' surgery site.