Villagers who vowed to fight 'tooth and nail' to prevent the council from allowing a caravan park to expand will have to wait a little while longer before a final decision is made.
On Thursday last week, the application for Twyn Ghyll Caravan Site (Ribble Valley Country Park), in Paythorne to extend the site with a further 62 caravans was brought before Ribble Valley Borough Council's planning and development committee.
The committee stated that the proposed development is considered to be in accordance with the main aims and objectives of the adopted development plan, and they did not consider that there were any significant material reasons that would warrant the refusal to grant consent.
Therefore the application was deferred and delegated to the director of community services for approval following the satisfactory completion of a legal agreement, and will come before a future planning and development committee, where a number of conditions of the application will be further discussed.
Earlier in the year, a planning application was lodged with the council proposing additional spaces be given over to Twyn Ghyll Caravan Site, which is owned by Park Leisure, a tourism and leisure operator who own several other holiday parks around the UK.
The caravan site currently has planning permission for up to 325 pitches, but Park Leisure stated in their application that there has been a visible need for more units due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the total number applied for now standing at 387.
Villagers will fight 'tooth and nail' over additional 95 caravan plan for Ribble Valley
At the meeting 65 individual objections were received as well as objections brought by the Parish Council, Woodland Trust, and Campaign to Protect Rural England.
Environmental Health and United Utilities also raised concerns with the proposals, citing more information was needed before they would support the application.
The application read: "Demand for UK holiday parks and static pitches in particular has seen significant growth in recent years.
"This trend has been intensified by Covid-19 and appears highly likely to continue in the post pandemic recovery period.
"In response, Park Leisure is looking to expand a number of sites across its portfolio including at the Ribble Valley Country and Leisure Park.
"The proposed extension is on land that is already owned by Park Leisure as part of their existing land interests at the park.
"It is considered that the proposed development accords with local and national policy and will bring significant benefits to the local economy."
Councillors also voted overwhelmingly that the application be minded for refusal based on a number of elements in the council’s local district plan for developments within the borough.
Following the meeting, a spokesperson for the Paythorne Action Group said: "It was encouraging to see that our local councillors took heed to our concerns and strongly supported the council's own vision and policies for the borough."
Meanwhile, the Park Leisure Group which owns the above site, is now reportedly up for sale with a suggested figure of £170m.
Midlothian Capital Partners is reportedly exploring the sale of the luxury holiday-home and park operator as a result of the huge rise in domestic holidaymaking during the pandemic.
Private equity firm Midlothian has reportedly engaged bankers to begin marketing the company, which operates 11 sites across the UK, including in the Ribble Valley for sale.
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