Residents in parts of Somerset have only a few weeks left to share their views on revised plans to deliver nearly 750 additional homes across the area.

Mendip District Council's Local Plan Part II, ratified in December 2021, initially identified 37 sites for new housing.

However, following a successful judicial review by Norton St. Philip Parish Council in December 2022, five sites were removed—three on the edge of Midsomer Norton and two in the villages of Beckington and Norton St. Philip, near Frome.

Somerset Council responded by publishing a new list of potential housing sites, aiming to deliver up to 777 new homes. This list went out for initial public consultation in March and April.

The council has now produced a revised list of sites. The public has until 12 August to submit their views before the proposals are submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in late September.

The High Court ruling required Somerset Council to allocate new sites to deliver at least 505 new homes in the northeastern part of the former Mendip district. Following a 'call for sites,' planning officers narrowed the proposals to a short-list of 11 sites, which could collectively deliver 777 new houses.

Interestingly, most of these sites already have outline or full planning permission, meaning they could be developed before the new Somerset Local Plan is fully implemented in early 2028.

Two of the initially proposed sites have been withdrawn as they are "likely to have been completed" before the revised plan can be issued in early 2025. These sites include the Montgomery Place development on Adderwell Road in Frome (25 homes) and land on the B3139 Wells Road in Chilcompton (seven homes).

With these sites omitted, the council estimates that the remaining developments will deliver a total of 745 homes, with 569 expected to be provided within the next five years.

Residents are encouraged to share their views on the revised plans by visiting the consultation page on the Somerset Council website.