Evercreech residents are celebrating a “significant victory” after plans to build nearly 120 new homes on a former factory site were defeated.

West Estates Development Ltd. twice failed to obtain planning permission to build up to 120 new homes and a small amount of commercial space on the former Greencore factory site on the B3081 Prestleigh Road in Evercreech, near Shepton Mallet.

Following the second refusal by Mendip District Council in July 2022, the Bristol-based developer lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate and put forward amended proposals for the development site, slightly reducing the number of homes to 118.

The inquiry was initially due to get under way in early-November 2023, but was pushed back two months after it emerged members of the public had not been given sufficient enough that it was taking place.

The Planning Inspectorate has now thrown out the appeal, leaving the housing plans dead in the water.

Planning inspector Mike Hayden said there was “common ground” that the council could not demonstrate a five-year housing land supply in the former district, and that a development of this scale would help to reduce this shortfall significantly.

He also gave “significant weight” to the provision of new affordable homes – even though he admitted the developer’s desire to deliver the entire site as affordable homes was dependent on Homes England funding being secured.

However, he said the economic benefits of the scheme would be only “modest in scale” and the new homes would “place pressure on local community facilities.”

Mr Hayden said: “It would provide much-needed market and affordable housing in an accessible location, clean up and redevelop a redundant and unsightly brownfield site, retain and convert a former silk mill of local heritage importance, and provide investment and jobs, new shops and community facilities.

“This is a scheme that fails, in so many aspects of its design, to reflect local and national design policies and to respect the distinctive character of Evercreech.”

Mr Hayden concluded that the harm to local heritage and the negative impact on the character of Evercreech “significantly and demonstrably outweighs the benefits of the proposed development”.

He did, however, order the council to pay part of the developer’s legal costs, ruling that the “unnecessary and wasted expense” incurred by delaying the inquiry by two months was “a direct result of the council’s failure to notify the relevant parties of the inquiry.”

The result has been welcomed by Barry O’Leary, who represented Evercreech and the neighbouring villages on Mendip District Council until its abolition in April 2023.

Mr O’Leary hailed the inspector’s result as “a significant victory for our community”, adding: “This decision is a testament to the value of our collective voice and the importance of preserving the heritage and cultural fabric of our village.

“The inspector has validated our fears that such a development would have devastating consequences for our community.

“The proposal showed little or no sensitivity to our cultural and heritage assets, which are integral to our identity.”