Appeal to halt the surge of caravans

10:50am Friday 10th October 2008

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RESIDENTS have hit out at a proposal for 45 new static caravans at Waterside Holiday Park in Weymouth.

Members of the public were given the chance to speak out at a public inquiry into an appeal against Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s decision to refuse permission for Waterside to convert a touring caravan site to accommodate the static vans.

The application had been rejected after councillors claimed it would cause an unacceptable visual impact on the surrounding landscape and would lead to a loss of touring facilities.

Waterside argued that the site would be well screened by trees and shrubs and would enable the park to accommodate guests for more of the year, bringing an estimated £274,000 into the local tourism industry.

Preston resident Graham Embley, of Holcombe Close, said: “As a businessman I don’t blame any other businessman from trying to increase the value of his business, but in my view it shouldn’t be at the cost of the environment or anybody that lives nearby or is affected by it.”

Mr Embley’s neighbour Norman Day said that the proposal for Waterside was the latest in a series of bids by the three caravan sites around Preston, which also include Weymouth Bay and Seaview holiday parks, to add more static caravans in the area.

He said: “We have taken a great deal of the expansion of these caravan sites without complaint but there is a point where a stand has to be made. With 1,700 caravans in Preston we feel overwhelmed.

“There has to be a point at which the local planning authority draws a line in the sand and says enough is enough.”

He added that the proposed layout for the static caravans had ‘all the aesthetic beauty of a car park’.

John Crisp, of Sutton Poyntz, said that having large static caravans would further diminish the views of a countryside already blighted by the three existing caravan parks. He said: “These views are the tourist attraction which people paying for tourist accommodation and bed and breakfast in Sutton Poyntz come to enjoy.

“It cannot be guaranteed that acceptable planting will prevent the proposed 45 caravans from being visible in the landscape.”

Peter Chance, speaking on behalf of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, added: “Caravans, particularly static caravans, represent urban sprawl.

“I believe that the replacement of mobile caravans with static caravans can only result in some damage to our countryside.”

Inspector Mike Fox will now consider the evidence he has heard during the inquiry and announce his verdict in several weeks’ time.