A holiday village and eco-park with up to 450 lodges, a hotel, market place, virtual reality wildlife experience and craftworkers’ pods is proposed for land south of Lancaster in a planning application.
Land at Home Farm, Ellel Grange, near Galgate, near the M6, is the proposed site for the scheme by applicants TNPG Sandeman Trust and Ellel Holiday Village Ltd.
But the outline application has prompted hundreds of objections along with some letters of support, according to Lancaster City Council planning reports.
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Proposals include:
- a virtual reality experience and outdoor activity centre around Quarry Wood on the east
- an activity centre and wetlands walk around Flat Wood on the west site
- bike and buggy hire for use across the site
- an eco-park board-walk on wetlands created west of the Lancaster Canal
The site would include landscaping, drainage works, water storage ponds and vehicle access off the A6 and across the canal. Short and long stay car parking will be provided in the eastern part. Visitors would then move around on foot, bike or electric buggies
Outline planning permission is being sought from Lancaster City Council by the applicants, who are working with an agent, Paul Tunstall. A total 859 messages and correspondence have been received by the city council. Of those, 760 raise objections while 96 support the plan.
Supporters say the holiday village would boost and diversify Lancaster’s economy, especially in holiday periods when students are away. It would offer something for families and have good road connections.
But objectors say the rural area could not cope with thousands of holiday village visitors and countryside between Lancaster and Garstang would be increasingly built-up. Ellel and Forton parish councils have also raised objections.
Eden Project Morecambe has not raised an objection, the council planning report states. It says Eden’s business case is to increase the number of overnight stays across the Lancaster and Morecambe region to deliver the maximum economic benefit to the community. With the holiday village proposals ‘clearly advocating environmentally conscious and sustainable tourism’, Eden says the respective projects appear to be highly complementary, the council planning report states.
Councillors on Lancster’s planning committee visited the Galgate site in September and the applicants have been working on ideas since then.
The planning report adds “The proposed development is unique to the district. Officers have taken time to discuss the proposal and seek further information so that they understand how the development would function. This application is in outline where the principle of development is sought with full planning permission for the means of access from the A6, across the canal into the western side of the site. Matters relating to layout, scale, appearance and landscaping are reserved for a separate submission.”
A range of documents have been submitted supporting the plan. These cover topics including jobs and skills linked to the holiday village, a heritage impact assessment, a retail and leisure assessment, noise and other considerations.
However, planning officers are recommending refusal. Reasons include a gas pipeline, landscape impact, relationships between different parts of the holiday village scheme and flood issues.
Councillors will consider the application on Monday, February 26, at the city council’s planning meeting in Morecambe Town Hall.