Holiday lodge plans for Northop Country Park backed for approval

Plans to build a dozen holiday lodges along with reception area and a shop at Northop Country Park will go under the microscope next week.

Flintshire Council’s planning committee is to consider the application after a request from Northop ward councillor Marion Bateman (Ind) due to the sensitivity of the proposed site being within the historic country park.

The application has been recommended for approval by the authority’s planning officers.

A report to be considered by the committee states: “This is a full application for the proposed siting of 12 single storey holiday lodges with an associated reception building /shop on land at Northop Country Park, Northop.

“Amended plans have been received in progression of the application proposing a reduction in the number of lodges from 13-12 units and deletion of a workshop building, from that proposed within the initially submitted scheme.

“The application site which amounts to approximately 2.6 hectares in area, is located within the grounds of the Northop Country Park and the setting of the Grade II Listed Soughton Hall historic park and gardens.”

It adds: “The site is located to the west of the main arterial route through the country park. The proposed lodges are proposed to be located on land to the north of the Northop Golf Course Clubhouse, Driving Range and the Celtic Arms Public House.

“The reception /shop are proposed to be located on an area of land to the west of the Celtic Arms. That part of the site where the lodges are proposed to be located, comprises an open parcel of land that is currently covered by shrubs and small groups of mature trees.”

According to the report to the committee, the country park has been subject to other plans for developing holiday and tourism accommodation, including a 198 bedroom hotel.

But councillors will be asked to judge this application on its own merits with the recommendation it should be given the green light.

The report states: “It is noted and accepted that the initial design ethos in support for a mixed development of the county park, was for the development of a 198- bedroom hotel, specifically aimed at tourism.

“Significant economic changes in the intervening period have however resulted in reconsideration of those initial proposals, there also being no legal or other requirement for a hotel to be developed at this location.

“The current proposal for holiday / tourist accommodation is proposed on a different part of the site within the Northop Country Park to that initially proposed for a hotel or holiday lodges, and therefore needs to be assessed having regard to the current national / local planning framework.

“The scale of development / amended site layout offers an acceptable and sympathetic form of development at this location which is acceptable having regard to its impact on heritage, ecology and highways considerations.

“It is therefore recommended that planning permission be granted subject to the imposition of conditions.”

Flintshire Council’s planning committee will make a decision on the application when it meets on Wednesday (February 1).

By Rory Sheehan – Local Democracy Reporter