The owners of a caravan park on the outskirts of Ayr will next week learn whether or not they can crack on with a big expansion plan.
Plans have been submitted by Crofthead Holiday Caravan Park to expand their site - and introduce as many as 150 new holiday lodges over an 8.4 hectare site.
Proposals are in place to change the use of a patch of agricultural land next to the park and use that land to site their park extension.
If approved, the park’s accommodation offering would eventually swell from 350 to 500.
Planning papers state: “The development proposal involves the change of use of an existing field/agricultural land to form an extension to Crofthead Holiday Caravan Park, which is an established and long-standing tourism facility.
“The development relates specifically to an extension of the park, by approximately 8.4 hectares, incorporating 150 new pitches, caravan units, infrastructure and facilities along its south-eastern boundary.”
The papers also go on to state that the proposal is considered to represent an “acceptable promotion of tourism” and tourist accommodation and “acceptable growth” of an existing rural business with “economic benefits” to the area arising from increased holiday occupancy.
The report goes on: “It is considered that the characteristics and design of the overall layout of the development will deliver a proportionate extension to the caravan park which will not have a significant adverse impact on environmental receptors, in landscape and visual terms or in terms of the amenity of nearby residential properties or neighbouring land uses.”
It’s understood that the existing caravan park is approaching the completion of its most recent extension, which was initially granted in 2016.
The new proposed lodges will be of a “similar style” to the “recent additions” to the park and will offer a range of accommodation from 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms.
Each lodge will have a timber decking area as part of its “defined curtilage.”
There are currently three objections to the expansion plan and among the concerns are the potential for the proposed development to “increase flooding frequency.”
However, according to the papers SEPA and ARA, as the Council’s Flood Management Authority, say they have been “appropriately satisfied” through the “additional information” provided by the park owners as part of their application.
And “no objections” have been received from any consultees in their final responses.
South Ayrshire Council’s Regulatory Panel (Planning) will determine the matter at a meeting on Thursday, May 11.
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