Welcome Home Farm: Planning Permission Granted for 67 Homes on Hornsbury Hill

Somerset Council Planning Committee South granted outline permission on 21 April for the demolition of agricultural buildings at Welcome Home Farm, Hornsbury Hill, and the construction of up to 67 residential dwellings.

The decision marks a significant change for Hornsbury Hill, an area long associated with characterful properties including Middle Payne Barn, S Ell Vic, and the Home Farm Bed and Breakfast. The approved scheme will bring dense residential development to a part of Chard that has maintained a distinct rural character for generations.

The planning permission comes with a substantial financial condition attached. Somerset Council has secured a £419,740 Section 106 obligation from the developers, with that sum reserved entirely for the Chard Eastern Relief Road, a road project that has remained unbuilt for four decades.

The levy raises immediate questions about how the council manages public infrastructure. Rather than allocating capital expenditure to build the relief road through its own budget, the authority is relying on private development to fund what is fundamentally a piece of public infrastructure. Should the council fail to deploy the funds appropriately, the obligation defaults.

Critics argue the approach inflates the cost of new homes, passing the burden of decades of infrastructure underinvestment directly onto future buyers. Housing targets set by central government continue to drive development decisions in towns like Chard, often in areas where local residents and planning experts have raised concerns about character, ecology, and the adequacy of existing roads.

The application drew support from those who argue the town needs more housing. But for many residents on Hornsbury Hill, the decision represents an irreversible change to a neighbourhood shaped over generations.