Holiday park expansion would bring new jobs

The bid to extend Haggerston Castle Holiday Park, six miles south of Berwick, would also create new full-time and seasonal jobs while attracting tens of thousands of extra visitors each year, it is claimed.

At next Tuesday’s meeting of Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee, members are recommended to approve the plans for an additional 120 caravan pitches to the north of the site.

These would be arranged around three new lakes, while the application also seeks permission for a new internal access road, footpaths, landscaping, adventure trails and other infrastructure.

A planning statement submitted by Lichfields on behalf of the applicant says that the development is expected to create almost five new full-time-equivalent jobs and 23 seasonal posts.

There would be an estimated 58,000 to 87,000 additional overnight visitors each year, leading to £2.9million to £5.7million in additional visitor spend in the local economy.

The proposals have not sparked any objections, but the scheme – at a park which already has 1,270 pitches – is considered a ‘a major development of strategic importance’ by council planners.

The planning officer’s report states: ‘It would deliver economic benefits through new the expansion of an existing business and in social terms would deliver holiday accommodation in an appropriate location, which would help to sustain the existing business and associated jobs/services, as well as being able to contribute to improvements to existing services.’

Ben O'Connell, Local Democracy Reporting Service