North Northumberland holiday park extension recommended for approval

A decision is due next week on plans to extend a north Northumberland holiday park with 60 new caravans.
The proposed location of the 60 new caravans at Barmoor Castle Country Park. Picture from GoogleThe proposed location of the 60 new caravans at Barmoor Castle Country Park. Picture from Google
The proposed location of the 60 new caravans at Barmoor Castle Country Park. Picture from Google

Barmoor Castle Country Park, just west of Lowick, has planning permission for 231 holiday pitches across the park, plus a maintenance building.

It has an 11-month season and there are currently 149 pitches sited on the developed area.

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The latest application, for use of land in the north-eastern corner of the estate – known as Back Croft – as a new area for 60 static caravans, is recommended for approval when it goes before next Tuesday’s (May 21) meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council.

The scheme would also see seven caravans removed from the eastern portion of Palm Lawn, so that it can be used as a maintenance compound with a small shed.

In recognition of the sensitivities in relation to Barmoor Castle itself, a grade II*-listed building dating from 1801, and the grade II-listed stable block, the new building would be located to the eastern boundary of the country park, ‘guarded by the existing mature trees’.

As a result, seven lodges would be removed, with one being relocated as a second warden’s lodge next to the existing warden’s lodge.

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Within the new caravan area would be cul-de-sac areas, landscape planting features and a pond feature with another pond on the tree-lined approach to Back Croft, while an additional planting belt is proposed along the western boundary ‘to give a better sense of enclosure’.

The details of the caravans have yet to be decided, but a report to councillors says they would be 12 metres by four metres, with a maximum height of about three-and-a-half metres, although they are assumed to be at least 50cm above ground level.

Spacing would be a minimum of five metres apart in accordance with the current site licence.

It is recommended that if the application is approved by the committee, the details of the caravans could be agreed through planning conditions.

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The plans have only sparked one objection from a neighbour, although Lowick Parish Council has raised some concerns, including about lighting in the park and its impact on Northumberland’s dark skies and that visitors are still using the emergency access rather than the main Flodden Gate entrance.

Ben O'Connell, Local Democracy Reporting Service