Dozens of new homes will be built on the edge of a Somerset market town after plans were approved.

Bloor Homes South West recently completed phase one of the Somerton Mead housing development, which will eventually comprise 130 homes between Bancombe Road and Bradley Hill Lane in the north-west of the town.

While the first 71 homes are now finished, progress on phases two and three (comprising 59 and ten homes respectively) has been significantly delayed by the ongoing phosphates crisis, with additional mitigation needing to be secured to prevent damage to the Somerset Levels and Moors.

Somerset Council has now approved the plans and additional mitigation for phase two, meaning construction could get under way later this year.

The Somerton Mead site is one of more than 50 major developments in the former South Somerset area which have been held up by phosphates issues since the Dutch N court ruling and the ensuring legal advice from Natural England.

Numerous solutions have been attempted to unlock housing across the county, including the fallowing of agricultural land (e.g. at the Fox and Hounds in the neighbouring village of Charlton Adam), upgrades to water water treatment plans or the creation of new wetlands.

In this instance, Bloor Homes will purchase phosphate credits to fund off-site mitigation, created by fallowing farmland in the Blackdown Hills national landscape (formerly area of outstanding natural beauty, or AONB).

In addition, only six of the new homes can be occupied before Wessex Water has upgraded the waste water treatment plant on Barpool Lane to the north of the town.

Planning officer Colin Begeman said: "The phosphate mitigation strategy regarding the purchase of phosphate credits is acceptable and has been endorsed subject to conditions.

"The strategy will allow up to six dwellings to be occupied prior to the upgrade of the sewage works and no occupation of the remainder until this has occurred.

"The proposal by reason of the appearance, landscaping and scale, is acceptable as it respects the character of the site and its surroundings and will have no detrimental impact on residential amenity, heritage assets, highway safety or ecological interests."

Somerton has seen significant housing growth in the last decade, including the Northfield development of 133 homes near the Somerton Mead site, the Patch Meadows site of 150 homes on the B3153 Langport Road, and the Buttercross Meadows development of 59 homes on Cartway Lane.

A decision on the final phase of the Somerton Mead site, which includes the pedestrian link to the relocated King Ina Church of England Academy, is expected to be made by planning officers later in the year.