Plans for 42 extra caravan pitches in Dawlish Warren rejected
It's on the grounds of it being overdevelopment and as a result of drainage concerns
Plans for 42 extra caravan pitches at the Golden Sands Holiday Park in Dawlish Warren to be sited have been rejected by planners.
Teignbridge District Council’s planning committee on Tuesday morning refused the scheme that would have seen the caravans sited on land that is currently used for recreation purposes at the holiday park.
Officers had recommended the plans, which would have included the relocation of the existing children’s play area and associated equipment onto adjoining land, be approved.
But councillors voted by 11 votes to five to reject the application on the grounds of it being overdevelopment and as a result of drainage concerns that they held.
Cllr Martin Wrigley, who had asked for the committee to make the decision, said that while the site in the summer is used for tents for people to camp out, and thus not strictly changing the use of the field, ‘it would change the nature of it’.
He added: “It is overdevelopment and 42 caravans on the site is too much. A smaller scheme may be acceptable but this will make the local residents’ lives misery.”
Cllr Linda Goodman-Bradbury added: “I understand the business case for Golden Sands and the addition to the economy but I do share the concerns of the residents, and with the size of the site and the amount of caravans, I do have concern with the quality of the holiday people will have, as there are too many and they are packed in.”
Planning officers in their recommendation of approval, had said that significant weight should be given to the in principle support that the Local Plan provides to extensions to Holiday Parks and the importance to the tourism economy.
They added that subject to an s106 agreement to secure the required Habitat Regulations Contribution, as well as the conditions as set out above including the pre-commencement surface water drainage condition, the benefits of the proposed development are considered to outweigh the impacts.
But proposing refusal, Cllr Andrew McGregor said that as well as overdevelopment, the site falls within the Dawlish Critical Drainage Area, as defined by the Environment Agency, which means that this catchment needs to be protected from development pressures, and the committee voted by 11 votes to five to refuse the application on those grounds.