A housing development in a Somerset village which was refused four months ago over fears it would cause “conflict and chaos” on a narrow lane will now go ahead — in a move one local man has called “a travesty.”

In June, North Somerset Council’s planning committee had voted 6-1 to refuse planning permission for Strongvox Homes’ plan to build 35 homes off Mead Lane in Sandford, in a field next to the Strawberry Line cycle path. One councillor said that accessing the homes from the long narrow Mead Lane was “an absolute joke.”

Because the decision to refuse planning permission in June went against the recommendation of the council’s planning officers, the plan had been required to come back before the committee after a cooling off period for them to confirm their decision. But now the local authority has changed its mind and said that changes made to the plan for the road mean the scheme can now go ahead  — despite the road still not meeting the standard that would be required of a new road.

Strongvox Homes is now proposing to install a kerbed pavement along Mead Lane — but locals warned the pavement would make the lane too narrow. Council officers told the planning committee was told that the 3.25m wide road that would be left after the pavement was added would not meet the standards required of a new road, but as it was “improving” an existing road, it was acceptable.

A contingent from the village had urged the council’s planning committee on October 23 to stand by their previous decision. But planning committee member Robert Payne (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat) said: “I think it was a good idea that we pushed back to get a better scheme from the developers for the access and I really can’t see how it could be improved any further. So I think we have to accept it as it is.”

Hannah Young (Clevedon South, Labour) added: “I am pleased that we rejected this the last time around because I think it is a significant improvement in the scheme around the access.” She said it was “not ideal” but she would support the plans.

But Christopher Blades (Clevedon Yeo, Conservative) said: “I completely disagree. […] We have just heard from our planning people […] that if we were designing this road to go with this site, it wouldn’t be allowed.”

He added: “I think it’s wrong. […] If you had a broken down vehicle in the middle of that that was tricky to move, you wouldn’t get an emergency vehicle down that. It would be chaos.”

Peter Burden (Portishead South, Conservative) said he had “an awful lot of sympathy” with local people concerned about the plan, but added that there had been no objections to allocating the site for housing in the local plan, so it would be hard for the council to refuse an application to build homes on it now.

Houses will range from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom houses, with 11 of the 35 homes set to be affordable housing. An existing orchard to the south of the site would be “enhanced with additional tree planting, and opened up to the new and existing community” under the plans and become a “rest stop” for the cycle route. This will include cycle parking as well as play equipment.

The planning committee voted 8-2 to go against their previous decision and grant planning permission. Neil Richardson, who had addressed the committee to urge them to refuse planning permission again, said after the meeting: “It’s an absolute travesty. They will do absolutely anything — come what may — to allow new build housing developments. ”

Archie Forbes of Winscombe and Sanford Parish Council, who also spoke against the plans, added: “I just hope that nobody is actually knocked over.”

The decision comes a few months after a similar-sized development in the village next door was also granted planning permission after it had initially been turned down. The planning committee had voted to refuse plans for 27 homes in Churchill in July, but then voted to grant planning permission when they came back before the planning committee a month later in August.