Caravans can remain at Somerset holiday site despite coastal erosion fears
Five-year limit removed following completion of £3.7m rock armour scheme
Caravans will be allowed to remain at a Somerset holiday site despite fears about coastal erosion in the local area.
Councillor Marcus Kravis runs the Anchor’s Drop holiday accommodation business in the small village of Blue Anchor, near Watchet, alongside his partner and fellow Dunster division member, Councillor Cara Strom.
In May 2022, Mr Kravis secured retrospective planning permission from Somerset West and Taunton Council to site six caravans on the B3191 Cleeve Hill, adjacent to Anchor’s Drop (formerly the Blue Anchor Hotel).
This permission was granted on the proviso that the caravans could be removed after five years, due to concerns about coastal erosion on this part of the west Somerset coast.
Somerset Council (which replaced the district council in April 2023) subsequently implemented a £3.7m coastal defence scheme in Blue Anchor, with granite rock armour being installed at the base of the cliffs to protect Anchor’s Drop and the B3191 towards Watchet.
The council’s planning committee west has now unanimously ruled that the six caravans can remain in place permanently, arguing that the immediate risk to local residents and tourists has been sufficiently reduced.
Under the council’s constitution, all planning applications by serving councillors or officers must be decided in public by the relevant committee, to ensure transparency.
In late-2025, Mr Kravis was granted planning permission by mistake to expand the Arkade on Minehead’s seafront, with the decision being quashed and the plans having to be discussed afresh by committee members shortly thereafter.
Addressing the committee in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (April 28), Mr Kravis said: “The proposal does not seek to intensify, extend or materially alter the approved development.
“The material change in circumstances arises from the completion of the coastal defence works.
“The continuation of a fixed-year time limit would significantly undermine the long-term viability and sustainability of this business.
“Such a restriction limits the ability to plan, invest and maintain the site appropriately; it discourages further capital expenditure and creates unnecessary uncertainty.
“Inward investment is a real worry, as someone tries to run a business, and the planning conditions here are well thought out.”
The Anchor’s Drop site has been subject to numerous planning applications in recent years, with Mr Kravis securing permission on appeal in May 2024 to install solar panels on the roof.
Ms Strom secured separate permission in March 2024 to reconfigure the former pub to provide additional holiday accommodation and was given permission in May 2025 to turn part of the former business into a shop.
Councillor Gwilym Wren (Independent, Upper Tone) questioned whether the siting of the caravans should be revisited in the near-future should any further substantial erosion take place.
He said: “When the original plans came through, there was concerns that the cliff erosion in the area was significant.
“Since then, the rock armour has been put in place – though it needs to be said that the rock armour is there not to defend this property, but to protect the road – which has lost its function at the Watchet end.
“The armour does tail off a bit at the eastern end. With hard defences like this, the sea tends to go around the end of them.
“There is an increase risk of the sea eroding the soft cliffs, which is a problem right the way along towards Watchet.
“I would want a review of this after a period of time – but I’m not entirely sure whether that is in the gift of this committee to do that.”
Councillor Derek Perry (Liberal Democrat, Rowbarton and Staplegrove) argued that the council had other means to remove the caravans if erosion made them unsafe for either temporary or permanent occupation.
He said: “The position was much more uncertain than it is now.
“The rock armour is in place, the cliff hasn’t disappeared to the extent that these caravans are at risk.
“There are mechanisms other than the planning process to regulate whether it’s a good idea to continue to have a caravan in place or occupied.
“If there comes a point where the caravans are at risk, then there will no doubt be other reasons to stop using them, such as health and safety legislation.”
Councillor Mandy Chilcott (Conservative, Minehead) agreed: “For me, the risk hasn’t gone away totally – while the tidal element has been improved greatly, on the land side there is still a risk.
“That being said, this is self-regulating, and in the event that there was further movement of the cliffs, they would be vacated very hastily.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve the plans after around half an hour’s debate.