Gems Campsite, based at Sunnydene Farm in West Camel, north of Yeovil, could restart its adult parties after local council discussed a planning application by the owners, Jan and Harry Copplestone. The original parties, held in a building adjacent to the owner’s house, were halted earlier this year after a council investigation decided that the building did not have appropriate planning permission.

Jan and Harry have now sought planning permission to change the use of the building to ancillary residency and for the use of fortnightly parties. The planning application stated that the owners started hosting parties at their home in 2001 but that by 2005 the ancillary building in question had been renovated to include showers and a hot tub. Thanks to the popularity of the parties, the numbers of guests attending exceeded what would normally be considered a residential party, which triggered the planning permission issue.

An investigation by enforcement officers of the council led to the suspension of activities in January this year until the planning issues were resolved. In April the planning committee of West Camel Parish Council met to discuss Copplestone’s application. As the application had the support of local residents and visitors to the club, and that no member of the public or the council raised any objections, the council decided that it should not object to the application.

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