Outdoor wedding firm refused permission to expand their services
COUNCIL ALSO TAKING ACTION OVER PLANNING ‘BREACHES’
AN OUTDOOR wedding venue in woods on the edge of Huddersfield has been told it can’t host more ceremonies.
Cockley Woodland Weddings, which has set up in secluded green belt woods between Mirfield and
Grange Moor, applied for planning permission last December.
The venue, which is among green belt woodland overlooking North Kirklees, had already launched and was offering a small number of celebrations despite not having full planning permission from Kirklees Council. Its owners told the Examiner last year that it was allowed to operate 28 days per year without needing any planning permission as part of permitted development law. The firm said it wanted to increase the scale of the business and so it now needed full planning permission.
But, six months on, its bid to offer more weddings at a time when outdoor ceremonies might have become more popular, due to coronavirus, has been refused.
Kirklees Council says the business proposal, which would have created four full time jobs, does not meet its “very special circumstances” test, required for allowing development on heavily protected green belt land.
And it has revealed it was already taking enforcement action against the venue for a number of planning breaches.
The report says wedding buildings and structures such as tipis, huts, and outdoor furniture were not being removed from the woods between events. Planning officials also took issue with the hardstanding car park that had been created.
A report written for councillors says planning officers and wildlife groups had significant concerns that the protected woods had been damaged.
It says “dense woodland has been disturbed, including the felling of mature trees” and claims that it is “highly likely” that there has been damage to ecological habitats and that the wedding venue would “negatively impact” on the Kirklees Wildlife Hab-itat Network. Concerns over vehicle access to the site and a lack of car parking were also raised for the venue, which lies off the busy semirural Liley Lane.
Yorkshire Woodland Weddings was approached for comment. It is unclear if existing bookings will be able to be held.
Last year, the government said it was reviewing strict wedding ceremony laws, which date back to Victorian times. At the moment, couples can only marry outdoors in England if it takes place under a fixed structure.
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