Children in a small Somerset village could be “in serious danger” from traffic after highways officers “stayed silent” over road safety concerns.

The village of Westbury-sub-Mendip lies in the shadow of the Mendip Hills on the busy A371 between Cheddar and Wells.

A key site near the village’s church and recreation ground has been earmarked for a new housing development, with locals seeking to ensure that new residents will be able to navigate the busy main road to access services.

Senior figures within the village have chastised Somerset Council’s highways team, claiming they have ignored residents’ concerns about the safety of the road and are not working proactively with the landowner and developer.

The council has responded that it is happy to meet with key figures in the village to resolve these issues – though this meeting may not take place until formal plans for the site have been submitted.

Efforts to provide a car-free route between the two settlements have been taking shape in recent years, with a lengthy section of the Strawberry Line active travel route opening between Westbury-sub-Mendip and Easton in September 2023, and work is currently under way on an extension of the route towards Wells.

Chris Langdon, who is heading up the creation of the Westbury-sub-Mendip Neighbourhood Plan, told the full council that the development would be out of easy reach of many of the key facilities within the village.

Mr Langdon also claimed that his and the parish council’s pleas regarding the A371 had fallen on deaf ears, and demanded that a public meeting take place to settle the relevant issues.

He told the full council: “We have commissioned a professional scoping report that asks your highways team to fully assess a range of options to fulfil this requirement.

“This report and request has been ignored, officers seem to take the view that ‘nothing can be done’ when not all options have been considered.

“This is not acceptable. Lives of young children are in serious danger and your highways team has stayed silent on a recent request to meet their senior team.

“It is very regrettable that they seem willing to raise no objection to a development which will both increase traffic on the road and pedestrians seeking to cross it, without any attempt to require the landowner and developer to meaningfully solve pedestrian safety.”

Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and waste services, said he was happy to meet with the parish council to address these concerns.

He said: “Our highways team is aware of your concerns over the A371, and in particular the connectivity to the centre of the village.

“Through the pre-application process, we have looked at several different scenarios as to how this can be improved, and we will continue to work with the applicant through the planning process to see if pedestrians can safely access facilities from Roughmoor Lane.

“We are happy to meet with the parish council, but it may be better to wait until a planning application has been submitted.”