While it is accepted that there is a need within the Local Authority's area for gypsy, traveller or travelling showpeople accommodation, the development, by reason of its location, distance, and lack of pedestrian connectivity to the shops, schools and local services of Axbridge, fails to promote or facilitate access to schools or health facilities. Furthermore, insufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate either a lack of suitable alternative accommodation available to the applicant or any other personal circumstances that would justify a need for the development to be at the proposed site. The occupants would be reliant on motor vehicles for their day to day activities, including work, education, shops and medical services etc. As such, the proposal conflicts with Policy D8 of the Sedgemoor Local Plan 2011-2032 and NPPF (2026) Policies S5 and HO12.

The site is in a prominent location, within the Mendip Hills National Landscape. Substantial weight is placed on the importance of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of land within National Landscapes and the site is clearly visible from the busy A371 Cheddar Road as well as from further afield and its character is that of a distinctly rural area at the foot of the Mendip Hills where there is no other development for a significant distance either side of the site or beyond higher up within the adjacent field. The development, by reason of the siting of the proposed mobile homes and associated paraphernalia, together with the loss of the boundary hedge and replacement with the erection of an 0.8 metres high roadside stone wall, would significantly alter the character of the National Landscape. The development would not conserve or enhance the natural beauty or the exceptional character or quality of the landscape but would change its character and harm its special landscape quality. The proposal would provide one traveller pitch and address an identified unmet need which is an important but limited benefit. However, it does not substantially outweigh the landscape harm arising from the impact on the National Landscape. In fact it is considered that the benefits of granting consent is substantially outweighed by the adverse effects the development would have on the National Landscape. As such the proposal is contrary to Policies D2, D19 of Sedgemoor Local Plan 2011-2032 and NPPF (2026) Policies N2 and N4.

The proposal would be served by the existing agricultural access onto an A371 with no adjoining public right of way, pedestrian infrastructure, cycle connections or realistic access to public transport. The development has failed to provide or secure measures to improve opportunities for walking, wheeling, cycling or public transport use, or otherwise enhance the connectivity of the site to nearby services and facilities. As a result, the proposal would perpetuate a pattern of travel that is predominantly reliant on the private car, to the detriment of sustainable transport objectives. The proposal is therefore contrary to NPPF (2026) Policy TR3(e) and Policy D14 of Sedgemoor Local Plan which requires development in rural areas to take opportunities to improve sustainable transport options and connectivity where these can reasonably be supported by the development proposed.