Lodges will bring 'high spending' visitors to Somerset, campsite says

The campsite currently welcomes 900 caravans a year to the site

A campsite boss wants to build 60 new lodges near Weston-super-Mare to attract "high spending visitors" to his site.

David Scott, who runs Northam Farm, has applied to build the accommodation on a field to the south of his business.

ARA Architects, the firm working on the plans, said visitors would spend "more money" in nearby businesses.

Sedgemoor District Council is expected to make a decision on the proposals before Christmas.

A spokesman for the architects said the lodges would "encourage high spending visitors to the park".

"These visitors will spend much more money at local shops, pubs, and restaurants," he said.

The campsite and caravan park is located off South Road in Brean, roughly halfway between Weston-super-Mare and Highbridge.

The field Mr Scott hopes to develop is bordered by the neighbouring Brean Sands Holiday Park and the West Rhyne, which filters into the River Axe.

The 40ft by 14ft lodges (around 12m by 4m) would feature wooden decking and would be raised 75cm of the ground to minimise the risk of flooding from the nearby watercourse.

It is not yet clear whether the decision will be made in public by its development committee or through the delegated power of its planning officers, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The ARA Architects spokesman said the park had multiple access lanes to accommodate the 900 caravans that currently visit each year.

He said the increased cars to the site resulting from the planned development would be "negligible and easily accommodated".