Villagers fight to stop expansion of holiday park
ACAMPAIGN group in North Devon is taking a holiday firm to the High Court of Justice in a dispute over permission to extend the resort into an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Croyde Area Residents’ Association (CARA) has raised more than £40,000 from fundraising campaigns and donations for the lawsuit, which they call a “David vs Goliath” fight.
The lawsuit aims to reverse planning permission from 2014 allowing Ruda Holiday Park to expand into green field areas around Croyde Bay, a popular surfing beach on the North Devon coast.
The group claims that North Devon Council unknowingly gave Parkdean permission to place caravans on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty after approving a change to the resort’s opening dates.
Parkdean Resorts, which owns Ruda Holiday Park, currently operates 67 holiday parks across the country, with four in Devon and eight in Cornwall.
Steve Vine, chairman of CARA, said: “CARA understands the need for holiday and hospitality businesses to thrive but not at the expense of ruining the beautiful village of Croyde and its superb beaches and surrounding area. It cannot be right that, due to human error within the local planning authority, a huge international company can take advantage of the situation and bypass all normal planning requirements.”
The residents’ association was set up in response to increasing tourism in the Georgeham area in order to represent the community and protect areas of beauty.
CARA has outlined many grievances with the plans, including the impact of traffic, waste, air quality, noise and light pollution, and the impact on the beauty of the site.
Mr Vine said: “It used to be that, when it was a more local company, they used to come in and have discussions at the village hall about things they wanted to do and the village was involved. Well, now, you have Parkdean with central offices in Newcastle, owned by Onyx in Canada. That sort of decision-making disappeared.
“I think that what we now have is a situation where there is too much remoteness between a large important company within the community and ourselves.”
He added: “I can’t say I’m 100% confident that the right decision will be made. I can’t predict that, but what I can say is it’s worth the fight we are putting up.”
A Parkdean spokesperson said: “We have followed all necessary planning processes and procedures and are in frequent dialogue with the local parish council and planning authorities.
“Given the legal process is ongoing, it’s not appropriate to comment further.”
A spokesperson at North Devon Council said: “In July, 2020, CARA lodged a claim in the High Court for Judicial Review of the 2014 decision which the local planning authority granted under application number 56528.
“The case is scheduled to be heard in the High Court on March 1, 2021, and the council will not be commenting until the legal proceedings have concluded.”