Plans for Bristol Airport car park near Mendip Hills refused on appeal
Jane Vosper applied in December 2025 to create the car park near the Badgworth Arena, just outside Axbridge
Plans to create a long-stay car park for Bristol Airport passengers on the edge of the Mendip Hills in Somerset have been refused on appeal.
Jane Vosper applied in December 2025 to create the car park near the Badgworth Arena, just outside Axbridge and around 25 minutes’ drive from the airport.
Somerset Council refused planning permission in late-March, arguing that it would “give rise to significant and harmful levels of noise”, ruining local residents’ quality of life.
The Planning Inspectorate has now confirmed the council’s decision, with inspector Juliet Rogers stating that residents were “likely to experience disturbance to an unacceptable level”.
The proposed car park would have been delivered at the entrance to the Badgworth Arena on Badgworth Lane, on hardstanding land near Beech Tree Farm.
The car park would have comprised 19 spaces – of which 15 would have been normal long-stay spaces and four would have been electric vehicle charging points.
Ms Vesper indicated that the car park’s eventual operator would have run a shuttle service between the site and the airport, with the charging points being used in part to charge these shuttle vehicles, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
A spokesperson for the family said: “Our clients would not be looking to expand the facility any larger than the proposed 15 spaces, as their calculations suggest that if they maintained a 50 per cent occupancy level for cars across the year, the income generated would be sufficient to support the ongoing viability of Badgworth Arena.”
Ms Rogers visited the site on June 22 and published her final ruling before the council’s planning committee north (which handles major applications within the former Sedgemoor area) met in Bridgwater on Tuesday afternoon (August 11).
Based upon the current flight times from the airport, she reasoned that the proposal would lead to significant noise in the early hours of any given morning, potentially disrupting the sleep of nearby residents.
She said: “The evidence before me indicates that flights to and from Bristol Airport commence at 6am, with the last arrivals just before 1am.
“This would result in passengers needing to arrive at the site any time from 2am to allow for a 30-minute journey time to the airport for arrival, up to three hours ahead of departure (in the case of international, non-European flights).
“Passengers returning and arriving at the airport at around 1am would be unlikely to return to their vehicle before 2am depending upon the efficiency in the airport arrival procedures.
“Therefore, the proposal could result in noise associated with comings and goings at any time during a 24-hour period.
“At night, as the noise from the proposed use would be accentuated by the absence of other background noise, existing occupiers would be likely to experience disturbance to an unacceptable level.”
Ms Rogers said that this impact “would be heightened” during the summer, when demand for the facility was likely to be at its highest and many local residents would have their windows open.
She went on to say: “Such a disturbance can have a significant effect on quality of life, particularly sleep, and can lead to chronic health effects.
“While the appellant has confirmed that bookings will be ‘cherry-picked and
coordinated to avoid early-morning and late-evening flights (as well as same sex groups of passengers), it is unclear how this will be achieved or managed.
“In addition, as acknowledged by the appellant, this could not be enforced and there would be nothing to prevent a future owner accepting such bookings.”
Badgworth Arena hosts an average of two shows a week at its equestrian centre, with approximately 40 lorries or horse boxes in attendance during such occasions.
Ms Rogers argued that this use “does not justify the increase in night-time activity”, arguing that light spill from the headlights of turning vehicles would “significantly affect the perception of tranquillity in the area”.
She concluded: “The proposal would harm the living conditions of existing occupiers of nearby properties, and would result in unacceptable noise and disturbance impacts.”