Refusal for holiday park plans in disused quarry

A controversial holiday park scheme has been turned down by council planners, after numerous concerns were raised over health and safety as well as design quality and fears for the local environment.

Laver Leisure had applied for 250 holiday lodges – as well as a ‘hub building’, water sports centre, lakeside cafe, visitor centre, plus footpaths and cycleways – at a former sand quarry near Whiston in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

With initial plans first brought forward around a decade ago, it’s believed to be the lengthiest and costliest planning application ever considered by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

The authority organised a special planning committee meeting on Thursday (26th October) to consider the issue, and spent more than three hours deliberating on the various details involved.

Campaigners against the proposals believe the company behind it will now either lodge an appeal against the refusal or come forward with a modified version of its plans.

Locals had been complaining that the holiday park would be larger than the combined size of its two neighbouring villages, Whiston and Oakamoor.

They also said its position near the A52 would increase traffic problems in the area, which is already congested due to vehicles travelling to Alton Towers.

Cllr Paul Roberts led those voting against the scheme, and said it failed to protect the area’s biodiversity and would cause problems on the Moorlands’ narrow country roads.

He said the park’s backers had failed to demonstrate high quality designs, and that the set-up would not provide a safe environment for visitors.

He said: “A caravan with cladding isn’t high quality to me.”

He also raised concerns regarding how close to deep water some of the lodges would be.

He said: “I couldn’t have it on my conscience if 31 children were staying in there we could have 31 deaths from lodges overhanging water – even more from [the lodges] possibly collapsing into water. Silica sand is unstable, that quarry side is unstable.”

Some members of the planning committee were also concerned the scheme would have a damaging impact on the nearby Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Cllr Alan Hulme said: “The officers said we would lose a lot of natural regeneration in the process of doing this scheme, which negates a lot of the benefits.”

He also raised concerns about the possibility of the quarry collapsing onto the lodges.

Speaking on behalf of the applicants, Liz MacFadyean said the plans were approved on their environmental merits at an earlier stage.

She said: “The site sustainability and accessibility was considered at the outline stage.

“A travel plan framework was agreed which promoted green travel initiatives – including a staff car share scheme, public transport initiatives, cycle storage, extension of the Alton Towers existing shuttle bus service and walking and cycling links.”

She said the development had also been designed to include sustainable drainage, low energy underfloor heating and timber from sustainable sources.

Also speaking for the applicant, Jon Suckley said: “The principle of a high quality leisure development for up to 250 lodges at the site was established in the 2016 outline permission.

“Site access was considered at the outline stage and no objections were raised by the local highways authority.

“It was agreed that the development’s highways impact is acceptable, subject to the agreed mitigation measures secured by the online conditions and Section 106 agreement.”

Laver Leisure has over 1,800 holiday homes across the county and believes the Staffordshire Moorlands site would bring significant economic benefits to the local area.

They estimate their plans would be capable of generating around £1 million per year in extra spending in local shops, restaurants and pubs.

A spokesperson said the company had been frustrated by the large number of objections which had slowed down the application process.

Despite the main planning approval being narrowly rejected, by seven votes to five, the company was successful in securing approval for two other applications.

The first gives consent for the change of use of a former laboratory building, and the second relates to drainage channels to deal with surface water and manage water levels in the quarry.

It’s not known at this stage whether the company now intends to modify its plans or appeal against the refusal of the main planning application.