Village anger at plan to build holiday lodge site
OBJECTORS SAY IT IS ‘CREEPING DEVELOPMENT’ THAT STARTED WITH ONE CARAVAN
VILLAGERS are far from happy at proposals to expand a Traveller caravan park in South Derbyshire by creating holiday lodges and a lake.
Applicant Shaun Calladine wants to build seven new timber holiday lodges on wasteland next to The Conifers, in Park Road, Overseal.
According to the application, The Conifers is a “gypsy caravan site”. Mr Calladine’s plans also include a lake, associated parking and landscaping.
The application has been submitted to South Derbyshire District Council, and Overseal Parish Council’s members have objected, labelling the site a “creeping development” that started with a single caravan. Concerns have also been raised regarding safety as the nearest highway “is used at speed”.
They also point out the application states there is a doctors’ surgery in Overseal, when it actually closed several years ago. Parish councillors want a clause, if permission is granted, that the lodges should be for holiday use only and not permanent residences.
Planning officers have recommended the plans for approval, saying they would be for holiday lodges only and stating: “This location is particularly appropriate for this type of development in the heart of the National Forest.”
The report from planning officers adds: “The proposed units are timber lodges and not caravans, which will create a different feel that is more in keeping with the local landscape.”
Nearby is Swainswood Park Road Caravan Park, which received a Certificate of Lawfulness in 2017 that its static caravans could become permanent residential homes.
The report added: “The applicants have stated, within their submitted business case, that the loss of these units as holiday lodges has added to the demand for in the area. Other local sites are named as Forest Holidays at Bath Yard, Moira, and Ashby Woulds Lodges, Spring Cottage Road, which are both within 3km in the North West Leicestershire District.
“The Colliery Lane, Linton is the closest holiday lodge park, which is approximately 1km away and has approval for a total of 18 holiday lodges.”
The district council’s planning committee will meet on Tuesday, November 15, to decide the plans.