'Passionate' villagers petition to protect fields

4 hours ago

Ruth BradleySomerset political reporter

News image — Trull is a village on the outskirts of Taunton

Dawn Johnson A sign reading 'Trull please drive carefully through village' with a much larger estate agents' board next to it advertising building plots — Trull is a village on the outskirts of Taunton

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition, in less than a week, to try and protect some fields in a village, designated as a "green wedge", from being built on.

A review for Somerset Council found the land in Trull, near Taunton, no longer met the objectives of the green wedge policy, which include "bringing the countryside into the heart of the town" and providing wildlife habitat.

The council said Trull Ridge Green Wedge was "enclosed by development" but a local councillor said the land was key to "protecting the village identity".

Liberal Democrat councillor Dawn Johnson, who set up the petition, said "the strength of feeling was huge" in the "active and passionate" village community.

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Daniel Mumby A metal gate into a muddy, grassy field with a hedgerow and trees as its boundaries and a wooden stile to the side of the gate — The green wedge land is currently agricultural fields

Johnson said she was "very concerned", as a local councillor and resident of 27 years, that removing green wedge status would open the fields up to development.

"People really value Trull as a village and its village identity. They really want to try and protect that as best they can.

"There are fields without protections in the area, which will be hard to defend, but this [green wedge] was a protected area," said Johnson.

She also said the short timescale between the report being published and a council meeting eight days later to decide on the review findings was "not really fair on the community".

The review recommends that eight other green wedges around Taunton and Wellington should remain.

Dawn Johnson A woman smiling at the camera standing in front of a stone wall and surrounded by trees — Councillor Dawn Johnson has lived in Trull for 27 years

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said a "comprehensive and evidence-led, independent review" had taken place of all the existing green wedges to assess whether they meet their objectives.

"This evidence study recommends the retention of eight of the green wedge areas, but for the Trull Ridge Green Wedge has concluded that it is enclosed by development, separating it from the wider countryside beyond the built edge of Taunton and coalescing Trull and Comeytrowe.

"The assessment has found that this fundamentally undermines this green wedge's ability to meet the objectives of the policy and it is therefore recommended for deletion."

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