Housing near pig farm at Land At Prestleigh Road, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet
Summary of planning committee decision
Decided by Somerset East on 4 Nov 2025.
No officer report was published for this decision; this summary is from the committee minutes.
Previous refusal
The application had been refused in August partly for insufficient information on noise and odour from a nearby pig farm, before new material was submitted.
“The Officer’s Report stated that this application had been considered by the Committee in August 2025 when it was refused for reasons which included insufficient information being provided regarding the effect on residents of noise and odour from the pig farm.”
Minutes
What members debated
Members doubted the reliability of the odour modelling and concluded the harms outweighed the benefits, echoing their earlier refusal.
“Speaking on behalf of the applicant, [name withheld] commented that the: • Updated odour modelling meets accepted thresholds • Loss of agricultural land is modest • Proposal offers sustainability gains In the discussion which followed a number of comments were made including the following: • Strong concern about odour modelling reliability due to absence of pigs at the time • Risks to the existing agricultural business • Lack of noise assessment • Road and pedestrian safety…”
Minutes
Why the committee refused
Members refused the application contrary to the officer's recommendation, citing loss of agricultural land, noise and odour impacts and harm to the pig farm's future.
“RESOLVED That planning application 2024/0406/OUT be REFUSED contrary to the Officer’s recommendation for the same reasons as previously given, these being that the proposed development would result in the loss of agricultural land (with its attendant economic benefits), which is a finite resource. The proposed development is close to a pig farm on Watery Lane.”
Minutes
The members' reasons
“Members concluded that harms outweighed benefits and echoed the original refusal reasons At the conclusion of the debate, Councillor Rob Reed proposed that the application be refused contrary to the Officers recommendation.”
Minutes
Source: the council's minutes, quoted word for word.
Sources
- Somerset East minutes, 4 November 2025
- Agenda and papers (council website)
Source: Plota analysis of Somerset's committee minutes. Quotations are the council's own words; headings and summaries are Plota's.
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- Committee
- Somerset East
- Council
- Somerset
- Date
- Tuesday 4 November 2025
- Recommendation
- Officers recommended approval
- Committee decided
- Refused, against officer advice
- Vote
- 11 for refusal, 0 against, 2 abstained
- Minutes
- The council's minutes
- Meeting
- Agenda and papers (council website)
- Application
- The application (council website)
- All decisions
- Somerset committee decisions →
Source: Plota analysis of the minutes.