Moorhouse Campsite to expand for Hinkley Point C Staff

The Moorhouse Campsite will provide an additional 100 caravan pitches for Hinkley Point C staff

A campsite on the edge of a beauty spot will rapidly expand to create housing for staff at a nuclear power station.

Plans for 100 new caravan pitches for Hinkley Point C staff have been approved at the Moorhouse Campsite in Holford in Somerset.

The campsite is site is located just off the A39 near the Quantock Hills.

Somerset Council have given unanimous backing for Terry Ayer, who applied to for the permission, to expand the site for the next three years only.

Pitches will be created at the eastern edge of Moorhouse Farm, with access onto a road which links the A39 to Stogursey

A new facility would be built in the centre of the wider campsite, providing toilets and showers for the workforce.

The majority of Hinkley Point C (HPC) workers housed at the new caravans are expected to travel to and from the construction site via the existing park and ride services (funded by EDF Energy) rather than using private vehicles.

The total number of workers on the HPC site is expected to rise from its current level of around 10,000 to around 12,000 by the middle of 2025 - with the first reactor expected to begin generating electricity by September 2028.

Councillor Gwilym Wren raised concerns about how well the local roads would cope in light of such a rapid expansion.

He said: "The number of caravans on site is going to almost double. This is not a simple increase."

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

EDF Energy is looking to expand several campsites across Somerset which are used to accommodate additional workers, in addition to providing more accommodation on its campuses both in Bridgwater and near the construction site.

Sedgemoor District Council approved plans in March for 58 additional pitches at the Mill Lane Camping and Caravan Park on Watery Lane in Fiddington - with a further 100 pitches expected to be delivered at the Quantock Lakes site near Nether Stowey.

Councillor Rosemary Woods said the Holford campsite was a suitable location for housing HPC workers, many of whom were not from the south west.

"If locals complain to HPC about their people, they will take that into account - they will not allow things that are unacceptable to go on, because it reflects badly on them," she said.

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