An award-winning holiday park’s plans to expand with 51 holiday lodges have come up against opposition from the National Trust.
Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park has applied for outline planning permission for the new lodges on its site at Booby’s Bay near Padstow.
The planning application is set to go before Cornwall Council’s east sub-area planning committee on Monday.
Planning officers have recommended refusal due to the site being in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and that any economic benefit is outweighed by the harm to the protected landscape.
The proposed site is currently used for camping and a certificate of lawfulness was granted last year for this purpose. There is also a children’s play area on site.
Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park currently has 255 static units with 11 bases for additional units, along with 270 touring pitches, which includes 170 pitches on the proposed site of the new development. The proposed lodges would be permanent units with outside terrace areas and parking spaces for two vehicles.
Stephen Rushworth, Cornwall councillor for the area, has supported the planning application saying: “The economic benefits are substantial and outweigh landscape harm. The application will also release the pressure of traffic on the local road network in the summer months due to the permanent siting of the caravans (as opposed to extant permission for tourers). It should be approved.”
St Merryn Parish Council says it agrees with the planning officer’s recommendation for refusal, with concerns about the impact the development would have on the AONB. The Cornwall AONB unit has also objected for the same reasons.
They state in their submission: “The development of the site will comprise a conspicuous addition of permanent built form in marked contrast to the open field or seasonal tented camping. This change will very appreciably increase the presence of permanent development in this location replacing the open field above the cliffs and beach with additional tourist development.
“The availability of both close range and more distant views to this extension of built form will ensure that it is conspicuous and unavoidably visible.”
The National Trust has also objected, but note in their comments: “We recognise the care and thought that has gone into this application, including the proposed layout of the lodges compared to existing holiday accommodation. We welcome the proposed net gain for biodiversity and the potential reduction in peak summer traffic that could result.”
However they were unable to support the application “due to the visual impact and erosion of rural character which, in our opinion, would arise, both individually and through cumulative impact”.
Cornwall Council’s east sub-area planning committee will meet on Monday to consider the application.
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