Hinkley Point C: Plans to expand Moorhouse Farm campsite for staff

If approved, the plans submitted by the owners of The Moorhouse Campsite will provide an additional 115 caravan pitches for Hinkley Point C staff

A campsite on the edge of a beauty spot is hoping to expand to accommodate staff at a nuclear power station.

Hoping to provide an additional 115 caravan pitches for Hinkley Point C, the Moorhouse Campsite in Holford, Somerset, lies just off the A39 near the edge of the Quantock Hills.

If approved, the plans would allow staff to live on site for a three-year period.

The decision by Somerset Council is expected to be made by Christmas.

Owned by Mr Ayre, the site already has a small number of pitches set aside for staff at the campsite's northern edge after temporary planning permission secured in 2018 was extended.

The new pitches would be created at the eastern edge of Moorhouse Farm, with access onto an unnamed road which links the A39 to Stogursey.

A new ablutions block would be built in the centre of the wider campsite, providing toilets and showers for staff of the nuclear power station.

A spokesman for Acorus, who represented the applicant said there is a need for "additional worker accommodation over an extended period of time" and the plans would have "no overall effects on the landscape character of the area and no effect on the integrity of the Area of Natural Beauty or its setting".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, about 8,600 workers will be needed during the peak of the construction programme on the new nuclear power station - around 3,000 higher than was originally predicted.

EDF Energy are implementing various measures to mitigate the "worker uplift", including affordable homes in Nether Stowey, expanding its campuses in Bridgwater and on the site itself, and increasing the number of pitches available at numerous local campsites.

About 8,600 workers will be needed during the peak of the construction programme on the new nuclear power station

Three campsites, Mill Lane Camping and Caravan Park in Fiddington, Quantock Lakes in Nether Stowey and Moorhouse Farm, were identified by EDF to deliver at least 360 new pitches between them to accommodate 470 workers.

Some 58 additional pitches at Mill Lane have already been approved by Sedgemoor District Council.

Quantock Lakes is expected to provide about 100 additional places based on proposals teased in September 2022.

Somerset Council is expected to make a decision on the Holford plans before the end of the year.