Holiday park plans flood defences to protect it from river
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A HOLIDAY park wants to build a flood defence scheme to help protect the site and ensure its future.
Avison Young has been instructed by Away Resorts Limited to submit a planning application for its Barmouth Bay Holiday Park, at Tal-y-bont, Gwynedd.
The park has 240 static caravans, a reception building, an indoor swimming pool, adventure playground, and a sports court. It is one of 27 parks in the UK owned by Away Resorts.
The chain wants to erect a flood defence wall along the northern boundary of the site and part way along the north-eastern boundary, adjacent to the River Ysgethin. The wall measures approximately 204 with approximately 48m of localised ground raising along the north eastern corner of the site.
Natural Resources Wales Development Advice Map shows that the northern portion of the Park falls within Zone C2. Several caravans face the river in this location and are prone to regular flooding from the river.
The flood defence would prevent overtopping during 1 in 100 year fluvial and 1 in 1000 year tidal events.
A planning statement from Avison Young said: “The local coastal area to the Park is rural and characterised by an agricultural economy. However, due to the high quality of the surrounding environment, there is a heavy dependency on tourism in the area.
“In particular, the holiday villages on the coast, such as Barmouth Bay Holiday Park, are a major input to the tourism trade.
“Given the steady increase since 2013 of visitors to the National Park and an increase in stays in non-serviced accommodation such as caravans, it is essential to maintain and enhance the existing stock of holiday accommodation to meet demand in the local area and the wider National Park context. Floods throughout the UK, both coastal and inland, have become more frequent, widespread and more costly. It is a great cause for concern for stakeholders and planning policy aims to steer development away from site’s which are considered most at risk from flooding.
“However, existing sites are now more likely to experience flooding in one form or another. Due to the site’s location, fluvial flooding from the River Ysgethin entering the park has become a more regular occurrence and this is discouraging the operator and caravan owners from upgrading their caravans to the higher quality accommodation that Away Resorts is moving its parks towards.
“Due to the increasing frequency and intensity of flood events at the park, the proposed flood defence works are considered critical to ensure the long-term viability and success of the business.
“The Park provides an important input into the local economy through the provision of accommodation and recreational facility to tourists, with derivative economic activity in surrounding areas creating many jobs on and off the site.
“A reliable flood defence would safeguard the assets of the Park, encourage the upgrading of accommodation in affected areas of the park and secure its long-term upgrade and financial viability. This would therefore lead to positive impacts on the local economy. These impacts are considered to be beneficial, irreversible, long term, of importance to the region and for these reasons outweigh any negligible harm identified.”
The plans have been submitted to the Snowdonia National Park Authority.