Children in a small Somerset village could be "in serious danger" from traffic after highways officers "stayed silent" over road safety concerns.

The village of Westbury-sub-Mendip lies in the shadow of the Mendip Hills on the busy A371 between Cheddar and Wells.

A key site near the village's church and recreation ground has been earmarked for a new housing development, with locals seeking to ensure that new residents will be able to navigate the busy main road to access services.

Senior figures within the village have chastised Somerset Council's highways team, claiming they have ignored residents' concerns about the safety of the road and are not working proactively with the landowner and developer.

The council has responded that it is happy to meet with key figures in the village to resolve these issues – though this meeting may not take place until formal plans for the site have been submitted.

Sue Isherwood, chair of Westbury-sub-Mendip Parish Council, brought the issue before Somerset Council when the full council met in Bridgwater on December 18.

She said: "I would like to express our grave concern at the lack of engagement of highways officers with the parish concerning the danger posed to pedestrians by the A371.

"Highways officers' comments often just give standard advice and make insufficient attempt to address issues of importance to the community.

"The planners have engaged with us and have understood the need to ensure any development on this site meets a specific Local Plan policy to make it safe for pedestrians to cross. The highways teams are not engaging.

"We want to pull highways and planning together to get the best result possible for our community. Other local parish councils have similar issues; we are not alone."

The Mendip Local Plan Part II, which was approved by councillors in December 2021, includes the land south of Roughmoor Lane as an allocated housing site, with planning officers predicting it could support up to 40 new homes.

The Local Plan notes that "traffic generation will need to be carefully considered", noting the issues with achieving a safe access from the site onto the A371 and calling for "further investigation" into this matter.

Chris Langdon, who is heading up the creation of the Westbury-sub-Mendip Neighbourhood Plan, told the full council that the development would be out of easy reach of many of the key facilities within the village.

He said: "The road effectively cuts the village in half. For much of the route through the village, there is no pavement and there is no safe place to cross.

"This has been major concern of the parish for many years, with increasing heavy vehicle use, restricted width and many bends with poor visibility.

"We now have the prospect of a planning application which seeks to develop some 60 houses on the opposite side of the road from most facilities – the school, pub, shop and post office.

"The Mendip Local Plan spells out that any development on this site is required to provide safe pedestrian links to the village core on the opposite side."

The A371 runs between Cheddar and Wells on the south-western edge of the Mendip Hills national landscape (formerly area of outstanding natural beauty, or AONB), with numerous tight bends and very limited pavements.

Efforts to provide a car-free route between the two settlements have been taking shape in recent years, with a lengthy section of the Strawberry Line active travel route opening between Westbury-sub-Mendip and Easton in September 2023 (and work currently under way on an extension of the route towards Wells).

The Church Commissioners for England – which are responsible for managing the Church of England's buildings and investments – has been in conversation with the parish council about redeveloping the land on Roughmoor Lane (west of St. Lawrence's Church) since the spring of 2022.

Illustrative plans for the development were made public in February 2023, and the CCE continues to have conversations with Somerset Council before any formal planning application is submitted.

Mr Langdon claimed that his and the parish council's pleas regarding the A371 had fallen on deaf ears, and demanded that a public meeting take place to settle the relevant issues.

He told the full council: "We have commissioned a professional scoping report that asks your highways team to fully assess a range of options

to fulfil this requirement.

"This report and request has been ignored, officers seem to take the view that 'nothing can be done' when not all options have been considered.

"This is not acceptable. Lives of young children are in serious danger and your highways team has stayed silent on a recent request to meet their senior team.

"It is very regrettable that they seem willing to raise no objection to a development which will both increase traffic on the road and pedestrians seeking to cross it, without any attempt to require the landowner and developer to meaningfully solve pedestrian safety.

"Communities are important and should not be ignored.

"Can we please have a meeting within the first two weeks of January or sooner with a senior manager from both highways and planning to discuss our request in full, and find the best safe crossing solution which can then be implemented?"

Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and waste services, said he was happy to meet with the parish council to address these concerns.

He said: "Our highways team is aware of your concerns over the A371, and in particular the connectivity to the centre of the village.

"Through the pre-application process, we have looked at several different scenarios as to how this can be improved, and we will continue to work with the applicant through the planning process to see if pedestrians can safely access facilities from Roughmoor Lane.

"We are happy to meet with the parish council, but it may be better to wait until a planning application has been submitted."