Green light for extension to north Northumberland holiday park

Barmoor Castle Country Park, just west of Lowick, already had planning permission for 231 holiday pitches across the park, with 149 currently sited on the developed area, and has an 11-month season.

The latest application, for land in the north-eastern corner of the estate – known as Back Croft – as a new area for 60 static caravans, was approved by eight votes to one at Tuesday’s (May 21) meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council.

The proposals had only sparked one objection from a neighbour, although Lowick Parish Council raised some concerns, including about lighting in the park and its impact on Northumberland’s dark skies.

In response to councillors’ questions about the lighting issue, planning officers explained that there was a condition attached to the permission which requires a lighting strategy to be submitted.

Planning manager Liz Sinnamon confirmed that the council wants it ‘to be as discreet as possible so it doesn’t create light pollution and impact on the dark skies’.

As part of the approval, the applicant will also have to make an ecology contribution of £16,800 to the local authority’s coastal mitigation scheme.

As well as the new section, the scheme will 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.

Within the new caravan area would be landscape planting features and a pond feature, with another pond proposed 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 will be agreed through planning conditions.

Ben O'Connell, Local Democracy Reporting Service