‘Ruinous’ scheme for 65 seaside lodges is refused after hundreds of objections

A CONTROVERSIAL scheme to put 65 lodge-style caravans on farmland near Filey has been unanimously refused.

The scheme attracted hundreds of objections and would ruin Hunmanby Gap, Scarborough councillors heard.

The scheme was the idea of businessman Wayne Low, who bought the nearby The Bay complex in 1998.

Objector Nigel Clark told the meeting the proposed development on 13.78 hectares of arable land off Sands Road would be “highly visually intrusive” and would give the appearance of urbanisation in the area.

He said it would see a further increase of the “straggle” of holiday sites along the coast, adding: “There’s no shortage of holiday accommodation. It is simply unnecessary.” Coun Roberta Swires said Sands Road was very narrow and the volume of traffic and people on it in the summer made it dangerous.

She said refusal was “the only way”, adding: “We have The Bay which keeps extending. We really don’t need any more caravan sites around this beautiful area.

“It starts off very small and extends and extends like The Bay, which is a shame.”

Officials said proposed mitigation would not offset its impact and it would “completely change the character of the area of being an open rolling landscape of arable fields.”

They said: “Any benefits to the local tourism economy are not considered to outweigh the harm to the wider coastal landscape.”

The Government’s conservation watchdog Natural England is designating the Yorkshire Wolds an area of outstanding natural beauty and Coun Mike Cockerill said there had already been a suggestion that this area should be included.