An application to create three flats for staff accommodation above the premises used by The Bay of India restaurant on the Coast Road in Brean has been refused planning permission by Sedgemoor District Council.
The premises is owned by Brean Leisure Park, which has several sites in Brean and employs around 400 staff at peak season.
It has been refused permission because the premises is outside the ‘planned development area’.
The Brean Leisure Park team said this week they are frustrated by the decision since “the boundary of the property runs adjacent to the development area and is situated within a few hundred yards of the Pontins Holiday camp which is being allowed to create a residential campus for 900 Hinkley Point C workers without a change-of-use planning application.”
Brean Leisure Park director Richard House says: “I wonder why a company that has invested millions of pounds in providing amenities for family holidaymakers is not allowed to provide much-needed staff accommodation when an outside organisation can come in and take over a site without pre-consultation with the Brean holiday industry.”
He adds that the company is considering its right to appeal and is also questioning the legality of this change-of-use in an established holiday destination.
