A publicly-owned farm between Burnham-On-Sea and Weston whch is the size of 22 football pitches will be sold off by Somerset Council in a bid to balance its books.
The authority has been carrying out a review of its land, property and other assets which were inherited from the previous councils in May 2023 in response to its financial emergency being declared in 2023.
Central government has allowed the council to sell off these assets and use the proceeds from these sales to fund day-to-day services, under a ‘capitalisation directive’, with £36.9m of receipts being built into the 2024/25 budget.
The latest asset to be sold off will be East Farm in Lympsham, between Burnham-On-Sea and Weston-super-Mare, with the council seeking to sell off the farm buildings and part of the land for residential redevelopment. The farm lies on Purving Row to the east of the village, just north of the A370 which links Weston to Burnham-On-Sea’s M5 junction 22.
The farm occupies a total of 79.5 acres (around 32 hectares, or 45 football pitches) and includes a listed farmhouse and associated buildings. The farm was let to a tenant by the council until 2023, with the council securing planning permission in early-October 2025 to convert the agricultural buildings into houses.
The farmhouse and these new buildings will be sold on the open market, along with a small amount of agricultural land – with 40 acres (16 hectares, or nearly 23 football pitches) being retained for either active agricultural use or to deliver biodiversity improvements to offset new homes in the local area.
Felicity Haigh, the council’s lead surveyor for estates operations, says: “Our asset management strategy sets out an objective to ensure that our estate is financially sustainable, efficient, and effective.”
“In response to our requests for exceptional financial support, the previous government agreed a capitalisation directive and encouraged us to sell non-operational assets, along with commercial properties, and use the receipts to fund essential services.”
“As a result of our financial position, and reliance on a capitalisation directive, we are committed to a rationalisation of our property and land portfolio, reducing holding and management costs and achieving capital receipts.”
“The estimated receipt is considered to be commercially confidential to ensure that we obtain the best market value for this and other future disposals, and to protect the confidential commercial interests of the buyers.”
