SEVENTY-one new houses could still be built just outside Langport if two planning appeals against the district council are successful.

South Somerset District Council voted at its area north committee meeting in April to refuse two connected applications to demolish part of an ancient wall at Old Kelways, which would allow access to the site near Wearne Lane in Huish Episcopi.

Now the Cook family, which filed the original applications, has launched appeals against the council’s decision which will be considered in the new year.

One application covers the creation of the 71 homes and associated access to the site in question, while the other provides consent to demolish the wall, which is recognised as a listed building.

Both Langport Town Council and Huish Episcopi Parish Council recommended refusal of the applications before they came to area north.

Huish Episcopi councillors said that there was “no clear and convincing justification” for the demolition of the wall, and that the development would cause “an unwanted merger” between Huish Episcopi and Wearne.

Both councils would prefer to see the land used to provide business units instead of more housing.

A spokesman for the Cook family said that there was “no other way of suitable accessing the site” and that the planned alterations to the wall were “the minimum necessary to achieve a safe access.”

The spokesman added that it would be “a finite development with a definite northern boundary” and would provide 25 affordable homes.

Langport Town Councillor Anne Michell has reiterated her opposition to the development, citing the need to preserve local wildlife – including nightingales in the area.

Speaking after the April meeting, she said: “The nightingale appears to be in severe decline due to the lack of suitable habitat.

“It needs dense low scrub and if permission is granted for the clearance of this area of the proposed development site, then the endangered nightingale will disappear again. There are fewer than 3,700 nesting pairs in the UK.”

The Planning Inspectorate will report its decision to the district council in early-2016.

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