Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter
A contentious scheme to relocate 47 caravan pitches to a small seaside village, which has been deferred by a planning committee decision multiple times, is again recommended for refusal this week.
In an application recommended for refusal at the October meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s development management committee, Vale Holiday Parks Ltd wants to move 17 caravans from Wern Mill Caravan Park and 30 from The Village Holiday Park.
They intend to create 47 pitches at Ocean Heights Holiday Parks in Maenygroes, about 1.6 miles from New Quay on the A486.
A planning statement said the 17 caravans from Wern Mill in Gilfachrheda, 2.5 miles away, and 30 from Village Holiday Park in Cross Inn, 0.7 miles away, “would form a natural extension to the existing Ocean Heights Park”.
New Quay Town Council has not discussed the scheme because it lacked a quorum after several councillors declared an interest, while local community council, Llanllwchaearn, opposes it, saying it “would double the area of the site”.
Since the application was lodged last year, objectors have raised concerns on the council’s planning portal about road safety, residents, wastewater infrastructure and “massive overdevelopment”.
The application was recommended for refusal at the March and May committee meetings but was deferred at both due to the submission of extra information, and was deferred at the June meeting for a site visit.
An officer report said the site “is not considered to function as a sustainable location, due to its limited active travel connectivity, lack of local services, and continued reliance on private car travel,” and the proposal had not “demonstrated that the development is small scale or meets a specific local need”.
It has also said: “The proposal represents a significant expansion of the existing holiday park onto undeveloped greenfield land at the rural edge of Maen‑y‑Groes, a settlement with no services and limited active travel connections.”
Objectors said the scheme would add pressure to the 60-strong hamlet’s “already strained resources”, with the caravans “dominating” the settlement.
Since previous hearings, the applicants have submitted information on the scheme’s potential economic benefits, saying it “would create approximately £760,000 in visitor expenditure into the local economy in any year from the proposed 47 units”, while officers said this was one consideration of the scheme’s merits, not a fundamental change.
A report for members also said the relocation from The Village Holiday Park “would result in a significant and permanent visual improvement to that site” and, in relation to Wern Mill, “additional information provides further detail regarding how the 17 touring pitches could potentially be accommodated within the site”.
But it said: “However, officers remain of the view that the current proposal would not directly result in a significant and permanent visual improvement at Wern Mill,” while moving the Village Holiday Park caravans would “result in a significant negative visual effect at the receiving site at Ocean Heights Holiday Park”.
The application is again recommended for refusal.
The post Controversial plans for 47 holiday caravans face another refusal appeared first on Nation.Cymru.