PLANS for a new children's soft play in a barn near Taunton have been submitted for approval.

The proposed plans would see two agricultural units on Drakes Yard, Glastonbury Road, in Durston, transformed into a large children's soft play centre with "support from House of Play Limited".

There's also the proposed construction of a 100-space car park for visitors, a minibus drop-off area, and eight cycle spaces.

Currently, the site is being used for "agricultural storage", but will employ four full-time staff and four part-time if it becomes a soft play centre, the application states.

The proposed opening hours would be from 9:30am until 8pm, seven days a week.

As part of the application, a survey of 150 parents was conducted. Of those, 128 parents answered that there was a "limited choice" of indoor leisure activities for children under 12 years in the area. All but eight of the parents said they would use the centre.

Inside the units boast a lot of floor space, with 554.5 square metres to play with. There would also be "non-alcoholic hot and cold drinks will be available together with light meals and snacks" for visitors.

The application, registered by Somerset Council on July 1, states that the House of Play, a company supporting the project, currently runs Astrabound, an indoor play centre in Doncaster.

It states: "The facility will provide a multi-faceted play environment for children, which will encourage exercise, thought and interaction with other children in the play process.

"Additionally, the design ethic of the play equipment is to provide features which encourage children to undertake the full range of activities generally undertaken in physical play while facilitating problem-solving and enabling children to explore and learn for themselves."

It adds: "Additionally, the design ethic encourages inclusion. Children with special needs can use the facility with appropriate supervision."

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