Glamping pod plans to be approved
PLANS for a new glamping site in the Valleys are set to be approved by Rhondda Cynon Taf council.
If approved, part of a farm at the head of the Cynon and Rhondda Valleys would see 10 holiday-let pods created.
The new site is proposed for Pencaedraen Farm in Rhigos, which straddles the border between RCT and Neath.
According to booking website Campsites.co.uk, there are currently no glamping sites in RCT.
Submitted by a Mr Owens, the proposals are set to be approved when the council’s planning and development committee meets on Thursday.
In its reasons for recommending approval, the report outlining the plans said: “The proposal to use the land for holiday leisure/tourism purposes by the siting of ‘glamping pods’ is considered to be compatible with surrounding land uses, given its semi-rural location.
“Furthermore, the scale and appearance of the ‘glamping pods’ are considered acceptable.
“Overall, the scheme is considered acceptable in terms of its impact upon the character and appearance of the area, residential amenity of the closest dwellings and highway safety.”
The 0.28-hectare site lies close to the A465 – between Dinas Terrace and Coed Wernhir, and the report said no objections to the plans had been received.
Nine of the pods would be for accommodation, with the 10th containing amenities including a bathroom for shared use, it added.
All of the pods, which are set to have a height of 2.7 metres and area of 11sq m, will sit on mobile steel bases, and were described as “modest structures”.
They will have a curved roof with timber cladding, and are to be screened from view of the nearest roads by woodland.
The pods will each sleep up to two people, and the report assured councillors there will be “sufficient space” to accommodate parking.
Concluding, the report added: “Having taken account of all of the issues outlined above, it is considered that the submission represents a holiday leisure/tourism use that it compatible with its rural setting. Furthermore, the scale and appearance of the glamping pods themselves are considered acceptable. Therefore, the scheme is considered acceptable in terms of its impact upon the character and appearance of the area, upon residential amenity and highway safety.
“It is also considered that any impacts, upon landscape and ecology, arising from the operation of the use could be adequately managed by the use of an appropriately worded condition. Therefore the proposal is recommended for approval, subject to the conditions specified.”