ANOTHER two years’ use of 100 ‘snoozepods’ for staff in Butlin’s holiday resort, in Minehead, has been approved despite concerns over poor quality living standards.

Somerset Council planning officer Anthony Pick said the modular units offered just a third of today’s national living space standards.

Mr Pick said they were ‘exceptionally small and not considered suitable for long-term living’, but he accepted many staff might have no other options over the long-term.

He said: “It is acknowledged that the pods are basic and poor quality design.”

Mr Pick said the concerns were partly mitigated by restricting the units to single occupancy, instead of the previous two staff per ‘snoozepod’.

Butlin’s had also agreed to restrict staff living in the units to a maximum of 90 days and accepted a two-year temporary permission instead of the five years it originally wanted.

Mr Pick said the ‘snoozepods’ had already been in use for four years and Butlin’s was being ‘encouraged’ to replace them with permanent staff units.

He said: “The temporary nature of the development, together with the need for short-term contractor and staff housing, is considered acceptable for a limited period.”

He said a ‘more permanent’ solution to providing Butlin’s staff accommodation would be ‘progressed’ during the two years.

Mr Pick said: “A two-year consent is, therefore, recommended to maintain essential staffing capacity while permanent, higher-quality accommodation is delivered.”

The development, located on 2.2 acres of relatively well-screened land within the resort and away from guest areas, also includes four common room ‘pods’.

Mr Pick said: “The accommodation village is required to support staffing needs during ongoing construction works and until permanent staff accommodation is delivered.”

He said the reduction in occupancy of the pods was intended to improve the living conditions for Butlin’s staff.

The ‘snoozepods village’ was first approved for temporary use in October, 2023, 16 months after a temporary 18-month consent was given for 88 ‘snoozepods’, 40 ‘bunkabins’, and four mess blocks.

In applying for the 2022 permission, Butlin’s again said the units were needed while ‘existing staff accommodation is replaced and updated’.

That application came after the holiday company was allowed to demolish 17 blocks of staff accommodation in 2019.

Mr Pick said: “A further time extension for these sub-standard staff units should not be approved in the future.”

A condition of the temporary approval was that Butlin’s had to stop using the pods and remove them from the site within 24 months of the date of the new consent.

Planning agent Alex Veitch, of Walsingham Planning, said Butlin’s was a major local employer and landlord, providing residential accommodation for a proportion of employees who chose to live on a seasonal basis away from home.

Mr Veitch said: “Butlin’s continue to run regular recruitment events with the aim of recruiting people from the local area.

“However, in recent years, the resort has struggled to fill all vacancies locally, resulting in recruitment from outside of the local area.

“This has fuelled the requirement for the resort to offer a sufficient level of on-site staff accommodation facilities.”