Hundreds of new homes could soon be built in a Somerset village – by taking a working pig farm out of commission.

The Ninesquare Trust applied in December 2019 to construct up to 280 new homes on land west of the B3151 Somerton Road in Street, at the southern edge of the village, writes Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Mumby.

A decision on the plans have been held up by the Dutch N court ruling, which prohibits any net increase in the amount of phosphates within the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site.

The Baltonsborough-based charity has now come up with a solution to deliver the new development – which involves removing a working pig farm elsewhere within the Levels and Moors catchment area.

Somerset’s four local authorities have been working with Defra to develop a system of ‘phosphate credits’, offsetting the impact of new homes by retrofitting council houses to reduce waste water, creating new wetlands, or asking developers to set aside ‘fallow land’ near new housing.

In the Somerset West and Taunton area, the council has put a system in place where developers can purchase phosphate credits from the council to pay for this mitigation – a system which could unlock more than 700 homes across the district.

In Street, the trust is proposing to mitigate the new homes on Somerton Road by closing down pig farming at Yew Tree Farm in the village of Wraxall, near Shepton Mallet – around ten miles from the development site.

A spokesman for RMA Environmental (representing the trust) said: “An agreement has been made to purchase the required phosphate credits as part of a mitigation scheme at Yew Tree Farm near Wraxall in Somerset.

“The mitigation site is located in the same catchment as the application site and is used currently as a pig farm.

“Mitigation will be provided by closure and demolition of the on-site pig units and fallowing (or woodland planting) on the farm.

“The phosphate credits arising from the mitigation scheme at Yew Tree Farm have been accepted by Natural England.”

In addition, new wetlands will be created within the development site between the access road onto Somerton Road and Burleigh Road, incorporating the existing public right of way through raised board-walks.

Mendip District Council included the site within its Local Plan Part II, which was approved in December 2021 and is designed to help meet the wider housing needs of the district up to 2029.

Street Parish Council has objected to the revised proposals, arguing the development would still be out of character with the village and the site remains susceptible to flooding.

Parish clerk Linda Ruff said: “It would represent an unneighbourly form of development, detrimental to the amenities of the occupiers of adjoining residential properties.

“It does not respect local context and street pattern… and would be out of the character of the area.

“Although a flood risk assessment and drainage strategy was undertaken, the developers have still chosen to build high-density house in an area with the highest level of flood risk.”

The district council is expected to make a decision on the amended proposals within the next few months.

If approved, the new homes are expected to be constructed and ready for occupation by the end of 2024.