A major supermarket's plans to build homes in Cheddar have been thrown out by district councillors.

Sainsbury's was granted permission in 2012 to build a new supermarket on the Steart Farm side in Cheddar – permission which has since expired.

The company has applied to build an unspecified number of houses on the site, claiming there is no demand for commercial premises in the area.

But Sedgemoor District Council narrowly voted to refuse the plans, arguing they went against the village's wishes to secure employment land.

The council's development committee met in Bridgwater to discuss the plans this morning (March 3).

Sainsbury's took over the village's Budgens store on Roynon Way in 2016, and still operates a store from that location.

Caroline Huett, representing the supermarket, said: "The Steart Farm site is now surplus to our requirement and we have marketed it since 2015.

"We wrote to 631 companies within a ten-mile radius of Cheddar, and found that the only serious interest was from house-builders.

"We did not support the Cheddar neighbourhood plan process since there has been no employment interest in the site for more than a decade."

Principal planning officer Adrian Noon said the number of homes being built on the site would be decided at a later stage – though it would be "a lot lower than 60".

Cheddar's neighbourhood plan was approved in a referendum in September 2018, and has been incorporated into the district council's Local Plan.

The plan identifies sites for future employment – including the Steart Farm site, which sites between the existing Cheddar Business Park and the busy B3151.

Clive Panchaud from Cheddar Parish Council said: "It is all very well building more and more houses in Cheddar, but we need to utilise this parcel of land for economic development.

"We are not against housing, but Cheddar has already reached its housing targets without these 50 or so houses.

"Please help us to keep this for business park expansion – because once it's lost, it's lost forever."

Councillor Paul Fineran – who represents Cheddar and Shipham – said keeping this site for employment would ensure future residents "do not have to commute to a significant extent".

He said: "Somerset County Council stated two weeks ago that they could not accommodate additional children in Cheddar First School until 2025. Please refuse this application and promote sustainability in our community."

Councillor Alan Bradford said: "I'm beginning to wonder why these neighbourhood plans are in existence – we always seem to be coming up against what people are thinking.

"I've got to take the same views as the local council – there is no employment coming locally, and they're struggling to get that to justify all these houses. I think there is a case here that we are overdone with houses in Cheddar."

Councillor Bill Revans said the site should be marketed for a longer time to allow commercial operators to come forward.

He said: "We need to secure employment land to create sustainable communities.

"We know there is uncertainty in the economy and key investment decisions have been delayed, but there is no urgency since the houses can't be occupied until 2024."

Councillor Tony Grimes disagreed, stating: "As it's proved difficult to find [commercial] takers for this, I'm inclined to support residential use here."

The committee voted to refuse the plans by a margin of seven votes to six, with one abstention.