NEW travellers’ pitches will be created near the site of a new £4bn gigafactory of the A39.

Mr. L. Ayres applied to create a new travellers’ site with two pitches on land at Rockfield House on the A39 Puriton Hill, Puriton, just over a mile from the Gravity enterprise zone where Agratas will shortly begin constructing its gigafactory.

The new pitches will include a static caravan for each occupant, with space for a touring caravan and a shared amenity block.

Somerset Council has approved the plans, meaning the new pitches could be in operation by the end of the summer.

The new pitches will be within walking distance of a bus stop served by two local services, the 66 route between Bridgwater and Axbridge, and the 75 route between Bridgwater and Wells.

A spokesman for H. C. Planning, representing Mr Ayres, said: “The site is suitably located to provide pitches for families who meet the definition of gypsies and travellers.

“Given the significant unmet need for gypsy and traveller sites in the former Sedgemoor area, including the lack of a five-year land supply, the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies.

“This application represents an opportunity to assist in meeting this need, through the provision of two additional private pitches, to meet the needs of these families.”

This is the second travellers’ site to be approved near the Gravity site in the last six month after the council’s planning committee north voted in favour of four additional pitches at the Green Paddock site on Cossington Lane in Cossington, near Woolavington.

The Puriton Hill proposals were approved by the delegated powers of the council’s planning officers, rather than a public decision by the same committee.

Even with this approval, the council will need to provide a further 21 pitches across the former Sedgemoor area by 2032.

A report on the council’s wider approach to gypsy and traveller accommodation will be discussed by its communities scrutiny committee in Taunton on Thursday (June 13) at 10am.

A full strategy for delivering new travellers’ accommodation, both temporary and permanent, is expected to come before the council’s executive committee before the end of 2024.