SHURTON and Stogursey residents are the "collateral damage" of the Hinkley C development after it was revealed this week that West Somerset Council has withdrawn its objection to an on-site workers' hostel in return for a multi-million pound windfall.

Quantock Vale district councillors Sue Goss and Chris Morgan said residents felt "let down and abandoned" after the authority made a host of concessions in order to secure a £91.7 million pot of cash Somerset.

The council has been in talks with Hinkley C developer EDF Energy to try and agree "planning gain" money - cash paid by firms to off-set the impact of their developments - if permission is given by the Planning Inspectorate for the new nuclear power station to be built.

Wednesday's cabinet meeting was told that EDF had originally only offered to give £45,000 to West Somerset as part of the main-build 106 agreement.

However, lengthy negotiations saw the offer upped within a matter of weeks to £64 million county-wide to mitigate the impact of the power station and support services such as education, training, transport and housing.

As reported in the Free Press last month, the deal was thrashed out between the company and West Somerset and Sedgemoor District Councils and Somerset County Council.

It is in addition to the £28 million already promised by EDF earlier this year as part of the site preparation works.

But the latest windfall has come at the highest possible price for residents in Shurton and Stogursey.

Cllr Morgan said neither he nor Cllr Goss had been consulted about dropping the council's objections to a 510-bed on-site hostel until it was too late.

He told Wednesday's cabinet meeting he was "hacked off" not to have been told about the talks and said the £500,000 pot promised solely for the Stogursey ward was not enough.

"Now we know we are to have this magnificent intrusion of an on-site campus for ten years . . . I would like to think that there will be some sort of extra compensation for these people who have to put up with the one thing they said they did not want.

"In fact, they probably would have put up with almost anything else except this - and for £500,000 to have an on-site campus I am sure most would have said EDF can go and stick it," Cllr Morgan said.

Cllr Goss said she now believed Shurton and Stogursey were the "collateral damage" referred to by Hergen Haye, the head of new nuclear at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, in relation to the Hinkley C project.

Both she and Cllr Morgan congratulated officers for the hard work they had put in securing a wide range of benefits through the 106 funding agreement but said it was vital the money was channelled to those who were most affected.

Cllr Goss said: "That success does not come without cost to the host village of Shurton and nearby Stogursey.

"For this [money] to apply, the council has had to agreed to drop its opposition to the hostel.

"I'm not surprised the people of Shurton and Stogursey feel they have been let down and abandoned."

EDF had originally proposed a 700-bed hostel, which was reduced to a 510-bed facility in the face of fierce local opposition.

In its accommodation strategy, EDF said it was well aware of the concerns of local people and had put forward a number of measures to mitigate its impact, including landscaping and repositioning of a car park.

The hostel is due to be built south of Green Lane "as far north as possible, away from Shurton" and EDF said it would be designed to reduce both noise and light pollution.

There would also be sports pitches available for local people to use, meeting areas and bar and restaurant facilities for workers.

"EDF Energy is aware of the concerns from local residents about the position, scale and visual impact of the accommodation development from the neighbouring villages and has worked hard to address these concerns.

"EDF Energy will continue to work closely with the local community throughout the construction period to address concerns arising from the operation of the on-site accommodation campus wherever possible," the company said in its accommodation strategy.

Andrew Goodchild, the council's planning manager, said all the parties involved in the 106 negotiations had faced some tough decisions.

He said there was clear Government policy in place in favour of new nuclear developments and the councils had to decide whether to reach a deal before planning permission was decided or wait and leave the decision to the Secretary of State based on whatever EDF offered.

"We tried everything to get EDF to change their minds in relation to the campus, but the reality was they weren't going to change their decision.

"We will have to wait and see what the Secretary of State makes of the campus," Mr Goodchild said.

He confirmed the councils had had to sign an agreement with EDF stating "all issues of principle" had been resolved in return for the multi-million pound pot.

But he said EDF had been made to focus the funding specifically on the areas most affected, rather than leaving it as a general county-wide fund, which was what the French firm had originally proposed.

Of the £91.7 million total, some £20 million will be solely for local communities and will be administered through the independent Somerset Community Foundation charity.

However, the bulk of the main funding pot is dependant on approval being secured for Hinkley C.

The Planning Inspectorate is expected to reach a decision before the end of the year.

If, as expected, it supports the idea of the new power station, the final go-ahead will then lie with the Secretary of State, with a decision expected by the end of March next year.

Council leader Cllr Tim Taylor said the council was still "negotiating strongly" with EDF to secure more benefits for West Somerset outside of the 106 funding agreements.

"We will continue to try and do whatever can be done," Cllr Taylor said.

Objections lodged against the hostel by individuals and parish councils are unaffected by the 106 funding deal.