Eweleaze Farm campsite asks again for extension to their summer season
They have reduced the number of days they're requesting
A popular campsite on the outskirts of Weymouth is trying once again to extend its season.
A previous application for extra days at the Eweleaze Farm site, Osmington was refused by Dorset Council earlier in the year.
The area planning committee, which meets on Thursday (July 7) is now being asked to approve a 42-day use of the site, shorter than the previous request.
Planning officers are again saying it should be refused because of the ‘significant adverse effects’ it would have on the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The site is classed as agricultural land with camping historically taking place for 28 days a year, as allowed under planning rules, although in 2021 the site was in use for 56 days because of a Government Covid dispensation, which has since lapsed.
Site owner, Mr Peter Broatch, says the sea-view site has been consistently voted one of Dorset’s top campsites and has been praised in articles in the national press, bringing massive economic gains for the area.
But despite its popularity with visitors is has not been welcomed by some residents and both the parish council and Weymouth town council are backing suggestions that the latest application be turned down. They say the site adds to traffic problems in the area, offers no economic benefits to Osmington Village and is highly visible from the coast path and sea.
The Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team say they are unable to support the extension beyond the permitted 28 days allowed by law.
Their submission to the committee says: “The development would not conserve and enhance the character and appearance of the designated area, which is the primary purpose of the AONB designation.
“Although the applicant has sought to reduce the scale of the change, the principle of large-scale land use for tourism in this location is particularly difficult to support. For the duration of the additional operating period there would be significant adverse effects on the character and appearance of a sensitive part of the AONB’s coastline with potential wider implications for the Heritage Coast and World Heritage Site.”
The application has drawn more than 300 letters of support, mainly from previous campers, and sixty letters of objection, mostly from Dorset residents.
A report to the committee concludes that the application should be rejected because, although there are economic benefits, these are outweighed by the harm to the area.
“While the harmful activities would be temporary, and to a degree reversible, the benefits deriving from the scheme would be similarly temporary,” said a report to the area planning committee.
At the time of the previous application Mr Broatch said the site supported eight full time jobs and 118 part-time, equivalent to 27 full-time posts, and brought £1.4m to the local economy, with campers believed to be spending up to an additional £1.7m in the wider area.
A planning consultant’s report said that with the move towards holidays at home the extra time for camping on the site would help meet demand and only have a limited short-term impact on the landscape.
The undulating site stretches north from the coast path between the PGL activities centre and the Waterside and Seaview holiday parks. Farm buildings on the site are used as shops and a restaurant during the camping season.
Also on site are compost toilets, solar showers, a laundry service and cycle hire – all of which are cleared away at the end of the season.
The statement in support of the longer use claimed that during 2020 payroll costs amounted to over £540,000 with £510,000 spent on goods for resale and £350,000 in other expenditure, an average of £23 per camper each night overall, with another £15 t0 £20 per person going into the local economy.
“The campsite is run on an eco-ethos, in that all material is recycled, toilets are mostly composting toilets, showers are solar powered, food is all bought locally and organic so far as is practicable and possible. None of the facilities are permanent and none impact on the land. They all sit on the ground, rather than require levelling and digging-in,” said a supporting statement.