Plans for "cramped and awkward" homes in a growing Somerset town have been thrown out by planning inspectors.

The Pegasus Planning Group applied in May 2022 to build 22 homes on Westway Lane in Shepton Mallet, including seven affordable properties – plans which were refused by Mendip District Council in late-September 2022.

Shepton Mallet LVA LLP put forward amended proposals in September 2023, reducing the number of homes to 18 and creating a 'pocket park' for local people.

Somerset Council (which replaced the district council in April 2023) refused permission for these amended proposals in January 2025, arguing they would "result in a cramped and awkward development" in the open countryside.

The Planning Inspectorate has now reinforced the council's decision, with inspector Alison Fish ruling that the homes would have a "harmful impact" on the countryside and the local environment.

The site lies a few minutes walk from the Cannard's Grave Road development site, where plans for a "once in a generation" development of 620 homes, commercial space, a care home and possible primary school were approved by the council's planning committee east in early-September.

The new homes would have been constructed on the western side of Westway Lane, with an attenuation pond being created at the northern end to reduce the risk of flooding.

The new pocket park would have been in the centre of the development – though it would not have included any children's play equipment, with the nearest play area being several minutes' walk away on Queen's Road.

Ms Fish visited the site on September 30 and published her findings on the Planning Inspectorate's official website.

She said that the site lay outside the agreed development limit of Shepton Mallet, meaning the development was in "open countryside" – something that would "harmfully undermine the objectives" of Somerset's existing planning policies.

While Ms Fish argued that the impact of the homes would be "very localised and of a low order", she added: "The site clearly reflects the intrinsic beauty of the countryside, which would be diminished by residential development."

The site lies within the River Sheppey catchment area, meaning that any new development must include additional mitigation to prevent any net increase in phosphate levels on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

To offset the new homes, the developer proposed to upgrade septic tanks within the catchment to package treatment plants, complementing Wessex Water's upgrade to local waste water treatment plans (which will be completed by April 2030).

Ms Fish said that she "could not be certain" that this mitigation would be sufficient to offset the homes, or that this could be adequately secured by planning conditions.

She concluded: "The provision of 18 homes would make a moderate contribution towards boosting the supply of housing.

"As a small site, the development could be brought forward quickly and

moderate economic benefits would ensue from the construction and occupation of the dwellings.

"However, I have found that the proposal would have a likely significant effect on the protected [Ramsar] site which, in the absence of appropriate mitigation, would have a harmful impact on its integrity."