TOUGHER measures are being taken to clamp down on village ‘fly parking’ by construction workers at Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station.

Somerset Passenger Solutions (SPS), a joint venture company set up to provide park and ride and other travel services during the power station’s construction, has strengthened its enforcement team and started working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

It now has nine staff who patrol nearby communities and work closely local residents and issue parking tickets and report offenders.

They use GIS technology to enable real-time tracking and a faster response to reported cases of ‘fly parking’.

A spokesperson said: “Together, the team and technology ensure every report is acted on quickly, helping us uphold Hinkley Point C’s code of conduct and reduce disruption in the community.”

The moves come as Somerset Council refused two retrospective planning applications where land owners near Stogursey had set up unauthorised car parking facilities for Hinkley workers.

In the first case, up to 50 vehicles had been parking on a farmyard in Edware, Wick Lane, Stogursey, since June of last year.

Planning officer Briony Waterman said SPS made transport available for all Hinkley workers via routes using specific bus stops, direct services from HPC accommodation, and from strategically located park and ride sites, combined with limited on-site parking.

Ms Waterman said the Edware planning application was not supported by HPC, which had not been approached by the applicant and was concerned it was an unsuitable location.

She said the workers still had to walk along half-a-mile of narrow country lanes to reach the Hinkley C site or use a shuttle service at the discretion of the owners.

Stogursey parish councillors strongly objected to both applications, which they said resulted in more than 140 vehicle movements on narrow roads through the hamlet of Wick at all hours of the day and night.

Planning agent Alex Sebbinger, of Westward Planning Ltd, said only temporary permission was sought and the site would be returned to its previous state once Hinkley C was built.

Mr Sebbinger said there was ‘significant demand’ for off-street parking for HPC workers and the intention was to help prevent ‘so-called fly parking’.

He said the number of parking spaces at the various park and rides and on the construction site was less than a third of the number of workers, and there was a waiting list of more two years for people wanting to park at the HPC campus.

The second application resulted from council enforcement action and was for parking for 20 vehicles and also five caravans to house HPC workers, which began in March of this year in a field near Wick House, Wick, nearly three-quarters of a mile from the power station.

Mr Sebbinger again acted as planning agent and said as well as off-street parking demand, there was also a significant need for accommodation for HPC workers in the area.

But, planning officer Rebecca McAndrew said there were no benefits which outweighed the highways danger and impact on the countryside caused by the use.