Plans to develop a larger farm shop, café, and holiday lets at North Farm on the edge of Pawlett, a small Somerset village, have been given the go-ahead by Somerset Council.
North Farm, situated off the A38 Bristol Road between Bridgwater and Highbridge, currently hosts CluckyMoo, a popular small-scale farm shop that has offered local milk, eggs, cream, and homemade cakes since 2020.
The existing facility, housed in a modest structure, has proven very popular with the local community. Owner Steph Heal submitted an application in April to replace this with a more substantial building, which would incorporate a café and two holiday lets.
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With council approval now secured, work is expected to commence within the next year, potentially before the end of the year.
Currently, customers access CluckyMoo from the southern edge of Pawlett, navigating an uneven road surface and a small car park that often becomes full.
The approved plans include converting and extending several stone barns already on the farm to create a more spacious farm shop open daily from 10am to 5pm. This expansion will provide a kitchen, toilets, and a small café area, allowing the shop to offer a wider variety of produce and increase revenue for the farm.
Adjacent to the farm shop, two holiday lets will be developed – one with one bedroom and another with two bedrooms – preserving many traditional features such as brick pillars from the existing barns.
A spokesperson from Greenslade Taylor Hunt, representing the applicant, said the new farm shop will replace the current shed which is no longer adequate due to growing demand. They added that the shop will primarily sell locally produced items from the farm while offering space for other local businesses to sell cakes and baked goods.
Parking will be organised within the farmyard, including disabled parking spaces to the east of the proposed building. Secure bicycle parking will also be provided near the farm shop entrance. Parking for the holiday lets will be located within the existing gravelled area serving the shop, with a new pedestrian access created through a gap in the boundary wall.
Somerset Council’s planning officers approved the plans under delegated powers, meaning the proposals did not require consideration by the public planning committee for the former Sedgemoor area.
During construction, the current CluckyMoo farm shop is expected to remain open, continuing its existing hours to serve customers throughout the development period.