A North Somerset village could see 160 homes built on its mushroom farm. Monaghan Mushrooms wants to build the homes across the mostly vacant northern half of its mushroom farm site in Langford, while keeping the farm going on the other part of the site.
One hundred of the homes would be laid out in a new estate with “attractive streets,” while 60 would be “co-living” workers’ accommodation in two blocks next to the mushroom farm. The development would also include a new children’s day nursery, coffee shop, and new “flexible employment workspace,” as well as new packaging and casing facilities for the mushroom farm.
A design and access statement submitted with the planning application to North Somerset Council stated: “The proposed development provides a unique opportunity to regenerate a substantial area of underused land in a sustainable location, well related to the settlement and existing employment land for the benefit of Langford.”
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Houses will range from one to two and a half storeys tall, and 37.5% of them will be affordable homes. The design and access statement said the nursery “will provide childcare services as well as employment opportunities for local residents and those living within the wider area.”
The trees and hedgerows around the site will be “largely retained and enhanced” the design and access statement stated. It added: “Additional evergreen, coniferous tree and hedge planting is proposed around the existing water treatment plant to provide visual screening and to contribute to the offset of potential odour emissions from the plant.”
Three hundred people are employed at the mushroom farm, of whom 57% are on seasonal and refugees visas.
In a planning statement, Monaghan stated: “Home Office immigration rules currently restrict the visas for these workers to 6 months and as such, landlords are hesitant to enter into tenancy agreements. Monaghan’s difficulty to house its workers is not helped by a shortage of HMOs within the district.
“As such, the business has had to adapt and took the decision to purchase property to rent to its temporary workers.”
The company currently houses 101 of its workers in accommodation in Langford, Weston-super-Mare, and the surrounding area, but said: “There is still the requirement to accommodate the remaining 60.
“A sudden in-take of Ukrainian refugee workers has placed massive pressure on the business to quickly accommodate these, and Monaghan has struggled to find accommodation due to a shortage of rental properties within the district, coupled with the fact landlords are hesitant to agree short-term — i.e. six month — leases.”
Monaghan added that housing people who worked at the farm on site would mean they could avoid the “unattractive” early committee from Weston-super-Mare, and that having the day nursery would alleviate the “undue strain” parents who work at the farm faced dropping their children at nursery before an early shift — some of which can start as early as 6.30am.
The company stated: “Co-living units are appropriate for temporary workers, easily manageable and allows workers to share habitable areas.” It added that the larger homes it owns could then be freed up for workers with families.
