A WEST Dorset holiday site has had an application for additional caravan pitches and glamping pods rejected by Dorset Council.

The Dorset Hideaway site at Bridge Farm, Whitchurch Canonicorum, had already made some changes to its site in Cards Lane before applying for planning consent.

It submitted a plan showing forty new caravan positions on land to the north of the existing site, and four glamping pods and two smaller tent glamping pitches to the east.

A planning officer report said half of the caravan pitches have already been established, together with the glamping area, all without planning permission.

An agent for the business said that if the proposal to expand was rejected there was no guarantee for the future for three staff members.

The agent said many visitors saw the quiet site as “their happy place”, returning several times in a year. The site offers several unusual features including a dog spa, fire pits and trailer rides.

Had the consent been approved the site would have been able to offer 96 caravan pitches, 4 glamping pods and 2 smaller glamping tents – a total of 102 units.

Upper Marshwood Vale parish council said it had been unable to support the application, telling Dorset Council’s planning officers: “The council notes the comments made by Dorset National Landscape. The site has developed over the years without, in our opinion much though as to its impact on the area. We are surprised that no seasonal conditions were imposed… The plans are too extensive and would have a major impact on the area. The proposal goes against the National Landscaping plan and we believe is in conflict with the West Dorset Local Area Plan. Concerns have also been raised as to how effective the landscaping plans would be to shield the site from the Vale.”

Similar comments had come from Char Valley parish council, while Dorset’s Campaign to Protect Rural England group also objected, pointing out that development in the Dorset National Landscape Area should not be permitted.

More than 20 residents objected to the proposals with ten writing to Dorset Council in support.

Said a Dorset Council planning officer in summary, after an investigation: “Having regard to the scale of development, including cumulation with the existing development of the site and the site’s remote rural location, the proposal is considered to represent major development within the National Landscape. Exceptional circumstances to justify such development have not been demonstrated and the development results in harm to the landscape and visual qualities of the Dorset National Landscape.”