The Orchard Grove estate on the western edge of Somerset’s county town will eventually comprise 2,000 homes between the A38 Wellington Road and Honiton Road in the neighbouring village of Trull.
A new primary school has already been delivered within the site, with construction currently under way on commercial space, a car home and a ‘park and bus’ facility at the western edge of the site.
But local MP Gideon Amos has called on the government to provide funding for additional facilities, including a secondary school and a health hub, as well as completing the spine road through the site.
Here’s everything you need to know:
What infrastructure is already in place at Orchard Grove?
In addition to the school and commercial space, the Orchard Grove consortium has been building Egremont Road, the spine road which will eventually link the existing roundabout on Wellington Road to a planned roundabout near Honiton Road.
The road currently runs from Wellington Road as far as Orchard Grove Primary School, with around 350 homes having been completed within the ‘western neighbourhood’.
The remainder of the road will be delivered as further parcels of land are built out, meeting the trigger points agreed within the outline planning permission, which was granted by Taunton Deane Borough Council in April 2018.
But the delivery of these homes has been held by the ongoing phosphates crisis, wherein developers are required to provide additional mitigation to prevent any net increase in phosphates on the Somerset Levels and Moors.
The ‘western neighbourhood’ of Orchard Grove has to date largely been brought forward by fallowing land within the ‘eastern neighbourhood’.
But the developer is running out of land to offset the new homes, meaning it will have to find further land elsewhere or implement other costly solutions (such as upgrading local waste water treatment plants) to prevent construction from grinding to a halt.
Mr Amos said: “Delivery has been impacted by a period of low sales, after mortgage rates peaked following the Truss mini-budget, and delivery will soon be further impacted by the need to achieve phosphate mitigation at great cost.
“The delivery of further infrastructure would significantly accelerate the building of homes.”
What does the local MP want?
Mr Amos – who was elected MP for Taunton and Wellington in July 2024 – currently serves as the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for housing and planning.
In a recent letter to housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook MP, Mr Amos called on the government to support three vital pieces of infrastructure within the Orchard Grove site – namely, a medical hub, a secondary school and the completion of Egremont Road.
He said: “Opening access to the development from the south, via the proposed junction of the main street/ spine road with Honiton Road, is critical to speeding up the delivery of the Orchard Grove scheme.
“The development simply cannot be completed without this vital connection.
“The government has rightly stated that delivery is key. If the government is serious about unlocking housing and accelerating delivery, then funding must follow the ambition.
“Somerset Council, which had to find an extra £70m last year just to fund care for adults and children, lacks the financial means to fund these capital works.
“If the government can fund the delivery of this essential infrastructure as part of its commitment to unlock development and support growth in our area, then I and our local councillors are ready and willing to work in partnership to deliver at scale and pace.
“I look forward to discussing this further and hope government will match its policy ambitions with funding and action on the ground at Orchard Grove.”
The secondary school is estimated to cost around £55m to deliver, against £5m to finish Egremont Road and £4m for the new health hub.
Mr Amos recently visited the Orchard Grove site with Councillor Habib Farbahi, one of two Lib Dem councillors representing the Comeytrowe and Trull division.
This visit came shortly after NHS Somerset confirmed that Luson Surgery in Wellington town centre would be closing permanently in late-September – putting further strain on health services across Mr Amos’ constituency.
He added: “The closure of Luson Surgery in Wellington makes the need for an NHS hub at Orchard Grove even greater.
“I’d like to thank local councillors, led by Habib, for everything they are doing to help provide the necessary infrastructure.”
How have the developers responded?
The Orchard Grove consortium – which brings together Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and LiveWest – has said it would be open to a local health facility being provided within the “dedicated local centre” approved within the outline planning application.
A spokesperson said: “We would welcome a GP or healthcare facility at Orchard Grove. It would be a highly positive addition to the community with clear and significant benefits to current and future residents.
“While there is no planning obligation requiring such provision, we would actively support and facilitate a decision by Somerset Council and NHS England to establish healthcare services at the development.
“The development includes a dedicated local centre, which is land allocated specifically for shops and community facilities.
“This offers a flexible and responsive approach to community infrastructure, with excellent scope and potential for healthcare services should the relevant authorities decide to pursue this opportunity.”
The consortium was more reluctant surrounding any planned secondary school, stating that its education contributions had “been successfully fulfilled and delivered” with the construction of the primary school – which is designed to expand in the coming years.
Regarding the spine road, the developers have committee to completing the eastern section between the school and Honiton Road – but in the absence of government funding, this would be delivered incrementally as more homes are delivered within the site.
The spokesperson said: “he road will eventually progress south through the site and connect to Honiton Road, completing this important piece of infrastructure.
“The completion of the spine road is a planning requirement set against the number of homes occupied at Orchard Grove, and this trigger has not yet been met.
“This phase of development will be delivered in the future and will be subject to a comprehensive design and planning process to ensure it meets the needs of the community and local area.”
What is Somerset Council doing to help matters?
Somerset Council put forward a bid in the autumn of 2024 to the government’s newly-created new homes accelerator fund, set up as part of Labour’s wider ambition to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament.
The council put forward six sites as part of its bid, with the intention to unlock a total of 7,754 homes – including Orchard Grove, the Staplegrove urban extension, phase two of the Monkton Heathfield urban extension, and the planned Selwood Garden Community in Frome (which is currently the subject of a public inquiry).
The government has not yet confirmed which local authorities will receive funding, with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) requesting additional evidence in February from numerous bidders.
A council spokesperson said: “We are currently in discussions with MHCLG as part of the new homes accelerator programme to highlight these infrastructure challenges and seek support, to ensure infrastructure is delivered alongside homes and to speed up the delivery of housing sites.”
How has NHS Somerset responded?
The Orchard Grove development was agreed and granted outline planning permission before the NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB) was created, replacing the NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
While NHS England did submit a formal request for funding as part of the Orchard Grove Section 106 agreement, this request was ultimately turned down.
NHS Somerset said that it had been having discussions with the nearby College Way surgery about expanding its premises before any new health hub could be delivered.
A spokesperson said: “We have had some preliminary discussion with the College Way practice regarding premises proposals, and following these we understand that the practice was to consider options further.
“We are willing to explore and discuss such options as necessary. Such discussions and options would require further planning and engagement with key stakeholders as necessary to determine the most suitable location and scope for such a facility.
“More recently we have also received an application from the College Way practice for some minor internal modifications to their existing premises has this is in the process of being supported.”
Health bosses said that any planned health hub would require a “comprehensive needs assessment” to ensure that it was meeting local need, not duplicating any nearby services and could be adequately funded as a going concern.
The spokesperson said: “Currently, we do not have specific plans for a new dental practice in the Orchard Grove area.
“However, we are open to exploring potential opportunities for a multi-service hub in line with the 10-year primary care plan and the evolving healthcare needs of the community.
“This could include services such as pharmacy and dental care, contingent on the outcomes of needs assessment and regulatory requirements along with the development of neighbourhood working.
“No specific funding has been allocated within the Section 106 agreement for a medical hub at this time.”
As each new parcel of the Orchard Grove site comes forward, NHS Somerset provides feedback as a statutory consultee and can make requests for additional funding if it deems it necessary.
The spokesperson said: “We continue to review every housing development application and assess these against local capacity.
“There has been ongoing dialogue regarding the potential use of available funding to support healthcare infrastructure, but no final agreement has been reached.”
Two Taunton surgeries received a share of just over £1m from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) in May to expand their premises as part of the government’s drive to provide more doctors’ appointments.
The two surgeries to benefit from the funding are the French Weir Health Centre on French Weir Avenue, Taunton and Warwick House Surgery on Upper Holway Road, Taunton – neither of which are in the catchment for Orchard Grove.
NHS Somerset said it was keeping a close eye on patient numbers at all Taunton surgeries and would work with existing practices to create capacity where needed.
The spokesperson added: “We continue to monitor capacity within local practices and priorities practices for development investment as it becomes available.
“We are also happy to review and consider individual plans presented by practices of the local primary care network for improvements.
“In addition to the aforementioned project at College Way, we supported a development last year at the St James Medical Centre to increase the size of their existing facility by utilising the former pharmacy space attached to their facility.”