A CAMPSITE in a West Somerset village will be expanded to accommodate a further 100 caravans for Hinkley Point C workers if a new planning application is approved by Somerset Council.

Mill Farm camping and caravan park, in Watery Lane, Fiddington, already has 443 touring pitches of which all but 52 can be used all year round.

The majority are already occupied by HPC workers and adjoining agricultural land will be used to create the new pitches.

Fiddington residents and the parish council have strongly opposed the caravan park expansion since the project started in 2023, claiming it has ‘squeezed the village’ and altered its rural character.

NNB Generation Company (HPC) Ltd has applied to permission to expand the campsite for its power station construction workers, who could total 15,000 by 2028.

Somerset Council is expected to make a decision by the end of the summer or early autumn.

If approved, the new development would include a welfare building with showers and toilets and a recreational area.

A spokesperson for PCL Planning said: “This proposal at Mill Farm represents a further opportunity to provide additional accommodation capacity for workers, which would also be beneficial in reducing pressure on the local private rented sector housing stock.

“It has the added benefits of utilising an existing site that is already established as an appropriate location for Hinkley Point C worker accommodation.

“It also represents significant investment into the site to support the viability of its longer-term tourism use as a legacy after the Hinkley Point C project.

“The campsite site lies within walking distance of the A39 between Bridgwater and Nether Stowey, allowing residents to catch buses which run to and from the site from the park-and-ride facility in the neighbouring village of Cannington.”