by Joe Jeffrey
Plans to extend caravan park despite possibility of breaching planning conditions and threat to wildlife
Controversial plans for the extension of a Lancashire holiday park are set to be decided next week.
Leisure company, Park Leisure 2000 Ltd, wants to extend Ribble Valley Country and Leisure Park in Paythorne by adding 30 caravan pitches and a children’s play area, as well as two new ponds as part of plans for expansion on the site – plans of which would also include extending the area of the park by utilising a field next door.
Proposed expansion to the site would break the conditions of a previous planning application which stated the number of caravans on the site should remain at no more than 295, with no caravans placed on the adjacent field. There are currently 290 caravans on the site at present.
Now, Paythorne and Newsholme Parish Council have hit back at plans to extend the park, stating that that the extension would go against the previous conditions as well as cause more light pollution in the area.
In correspondence addressed to Ribble Valley Council, clerk to the parish council, Stella Rosthorne, said: “In future years their “holiday home” will deteriorate to a position where they can no longer reside there.
“Most of them will have used the proceeds of the sale of their house and their savings to purchase said holiday home.
“When they become homeless the council will be obliged to re-house them, this will put further strain on an already tightening budget.
“The only persons who will truly benefit from an increase in the caravan site are the site owners themselves who have no consideration for the community.”
Letters have also been sent by local residents objecting to the plans claiming the extension would harm local wildlife including owls and hedgehogs.
A decision is due to be made by 17 December.
