New workshops planned at rural Somerset business park

Bowdens Farm Business Park lies on the B3168 Hambridge Road just outside the small village of Hambridge, between Langport and Ilminster.

The business park is the home of numerous successful small businesses, including the Brown and Forrest Smokery, the Teapot Creative marketing agency, Rifleman Firearms and the DCC Train Automation model train outlet.

The Lang Partnership, which owns and manages the site, has now put forward proposals to expand the site to the north with additional units - with Somerset Council expected to make a decision on the plans before Christmas.

The expansion will be created on arable land to the north of Bowdens Farm, next to an existing area of woodland and accessed from the existing entrance road off Hambridge Road.

Planned expansion of the Bowdens Farm Business Park on the B3168 Hambridge Road in Hambridge (Image: W K Studio)

Under the plans, a new building will be erected to provide six workshops for light industrial use, delivering a total of 363 sq m of employment space.

Eight large storage containers (each measuring 29.7 sq m) and 52 small storage containers (each measuring 14.7 sq m) will also be put in place, with 31 new car parking spaces being created along with two motorcycle bays, two cycle spaces, two disabled bay and one electric vehicle charging point.

A spokesperson for Clive Miller Architects (representing the applicant) said: "The proposed development provides employment opportunities that are appropriate to the scale of the settlement and will meet the local demand for such opportunities.

"It is immediately adjoining the existing business centre, is of a size which will enable the organic development of the facility over the coming years, and will help to compliment and sustain the existing business.

"It will also make a positive contribution to the farm enterprise as a whole during a period of likely serious challenge for the agricultural sector and the arable farming business."

Both Curry Rivel Parish Council and Hambridge and Westport Parish Council have given their backing to the proposals, stating it will bring new jobs to the local area.

Hambridge and Westport parish clerk Louise Brooks said: "We fully support  the proposed extension to Bowdens Farm Business Park.

"We feel that increasing the level of business activity on the site is positive for the local area, helping to support local employment, the rural economy and local trade."

Somerset Council is expected to make a ruling on the proposals within the next three months.

It is not presently clear whether this decision will be taken in public by its planning committee south (which handles major applications within the former South Somerset area) or through the delegated powers of its planning officers.