A plan to demolish homes in the Conwy Valley and expand a luxury caravan park has come under attack.
The owners of Gorse Hill Caravan and Lodge Park near Conwy want to expand the park by demolishing six properties they’ve bought next to the site and replacing them with static caravans.
The 36 lodges would be sited on three locations around the existing park - including agricultural land next to Baclaw Lane and the vacant space left after the demolition of homes on Llanrwst Road.
The owners, who also have a smaller caravan site called Forest Hills in Bryn Pydew, say they will build six houses at that site as part of the agreement.
Goronwy Edwards, Conwy Valley county councillor, said: “I find the proposal to demolish six recently purchased residential properties to make way for holiday lodges totally unacceptable, especially as there is such a shortage of family homes in this rural community.
“The proposal would also see further development on much-needed valuable agricultural land, which is an area of designated significant landscape value.”
The planning statement claims that issues with the houses at Gorse Hill include poor access from the public highway, access down steep terraced steps, no meaningful amenity space, and low energy ratings.
David Mortimer-Jones, who lives near the site, said: “I’m very concerned about the impact the expansion would have on the ancient woodland of Coed Baclaw.
“Coed Baclaw has been retained for more than 100 years as an untouched woodland and undisturbed wildlife sanctuary.
“It is now threatened by the proposed development of Gorse Hill Caravan Park.
“This expansion would go right up to its boundary.”
This multi-million-pound project is at the pre-application stage, and a 28-day public consultation is underway before a full planning application is submitted.
The Gorse Hill scheme is divided into three areas. Area A would see the siting of 14 lodges next to Baclaw Lane and the creation of a “recreational route” with pathways down to Conwy Estuary. There would be an underpass at Baclaw Lane.
Area B is sited between the boundary of the caravan park and Baclaw Lane and would see two homes demolished to make way for 17 static caravans.
At Area C - next to the B5106 (Llanrwst Road) - four homes would be knocked down and replaced with five lodges.
The application says holiday units will be transferred from Forest Hills to Gorse Hill.
Lodges at Forest Hills are “poorly located” and suffer from a lack of onsite facilities, says the application.
But Gorse Hill is “an existing well established park which has on site services and facilities”, say the applicants.
Cadnant Planning, the agents for the applicant, said: “The proposals at Gorse Hill and Forest Hills are comprehensive proposals which have, in advance of this public consultation stage, been subject to a rigorous assessment in terms of landscape impact, ecology, traffic issues and economic impact.
“They have been brought together to address previous concern about loss of housing.
“The ancient woodland at Baclaw is not affected by the proposals.
“The proposals are linked in that they transfer holiday units from the poor quality Forrest Hills site to the Gorse Hill site, which is one of the premier holiday parks in North Wales.
“The poor quality housing lost from the Gorse Hill area will be replaced with new, sustainable housing of a similar scale at Forrest Hills, close to facilities such as new schools and employment at Llandudno Junction.
“We are currently seeking views on the proposals as part of this Pre-Application Process.”
The consultation continues until September 26.
