Villagers launch bid to stop holiday park expansion which would overlook their homes

Objectors to the plans to expand Croft Park, off Rowley Road, Little Weighton, claimed it would encroach on the village and that new lodges could be occupied almost permanently.

Rowley Parish Council, which has also objected, claimed the 11 new lodges proposed would further strain sewage systems which had already overflown at times.

But Croft Park said the expansion would be modest and had been planned with those living nearby in mind, including by planting new trees to screen it from view.

It comes as the plans are set to go before East Riding Council’s Western Area Planning Sub-Committee on Tuesday, August 9.

Plans show that each of the new lodges set to be built on land east of the existing park would have their own dedicated parking spaces.

They would lie outside of the development limits of Little Weighton, bordering homes on New Village Road to the north and businesses to the south.

The Brakenwoods housing estates lies north of the site which is within a locally designated Important Landscape Area.

Council planning officers stated in a report to the committee that the expansion was acceptable and would benefit the local economy and not have a detrimental impact on the area.

But they proposed a raft of conditions to require further planning approval if the park wanted to build more lodges on top of the 11 proposed.

Yorkshire Water has not objected to the plans but called on councillors not to approve them without adequate plans for draining the site.

A total of 23 objections have been lodged against the plans but the council has also received 27 letters backing the expansion.

Objectors claimed adding 11 lodges to the site could effectively create the equivalent in new homes, given they were often lived in for long period.

In a dossier to councillors, they claimed: “If the caravans are intended to be sold to individual customers with no sub-letting there will be little increase in tourism. The caravans will be serviced and maintained by their owners, they will therefore be of little benefit regarding increasing local employment.

“Recordings are available of noise emanating from visitors of the site utilising the jacuzzis late in the evening when the village is quiet. Croft Park is situation in an elevated position and the noise carries into the residential areas.

“This proposal impacts the village negatively in several aspects without offering anything positive in return.”

Croft Park stated in its submissions that although the lodges were popular all year round, they were not readily visible from public vantage points.

They stated: “The layout and additional planting have been designed to provide large, well screened buffers between the site and nearby residential properties. Foul water drainage will be into the existing park foul drainage system and thereby onto the adopted sewer.

“External lighting will be the minimum to meet health and safety requirements. The development is to use the existing park access which, in line with licence requirements, provides for safe two-way vehicular movements with good access onto the public highway.

“The application proposes a modest expansion of a well established, high quality holiday caravan site. It is to be arranged sympathetically in terms of both neighbours and the wider locality.”