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Developer loses appeal for 290 homes outside Bath

John Wimperis
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Jamie Bellinger Two large protest signs are held up, both reading "save the Southstoke Plateau". The signs are decorated, one with a green field, blue sky and a broken heart, and the other with green flowers and a bee. A smiling woman can be seen behind one of the signs.Jamie Bellinger
Protesters campaign against the homes, which would have been built on former green belt land

A developer has failed in a second attempt to get permission to build 290 homes on fields near Bath.

The Hignett Family Trust's initial proposal to develop land on the South Stoke plateau was rejected by Bath and North East Somerset Council last year.

The trust said the decision was "unreasonable" and appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

Rejecting the appeal, the inspectorate said the development would have an "adverse effect" on the Cotswolds landscape and that councillors were right to refuse permission.

The 290 houses, 40% of which were designated as affordable homes, would have been built as part of the trust's "Sulis Down" development.

The land sits within Bath's World Heritage Site and the Cotswolds National Landscape.

The trust has already built 170 Sulis Down homes, just west of the South Stoke plateau.

The land earmarked for Sulis Down was taken out of the green belt 10 years ago, for a "mixed-use" development of up to 300 homes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The 290 homes, added to the existing 170, would have exceeded this figure, however, Somerset is facing a significant housing shortage.

Ned Garnett A tree-lined field, with more trees in the distance and blue skies on a sunny winter day. The trees have no leaves and the field is mostly dark and brown.Ned Garnett
South Stoke plateau near Bath is popular with walkers

After rejecting the appeal, planning inspector Tom Gilbert-Wooldridge said: "It is unlikely that any amount of suitable planting would be sufficient to visually screen the housing during the day or night.

"Therefore, there would be an adverse effect on the special qualities of the [Cotswolds National Landscape] in terms of views of the escarpment and high wolds landscape as well as dark skies."

Campaigners from the South of Bath Alliance (Soba), alongside the council and local parish councils, had raised £13,000 for a lawyer to fight the plans.

Soba, which held a protest against the homes at the initial planning decision in April 2024, thanked the "many volunteers" who helped "ensure the community's voice was heard".

Hignett Family Trust previously said that if its appeal failed, it would block public access to the popular walking routes along the field boundaries on its Sulis Down land.

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