A PLANNING request which could almost double the size of holiday park near Owermoigne has still not been decided – more than two years after it was submitted to Dorset Council.

The Sandyholme holiday park has asked for an extension to its site off Moreton Road using a field to the south of the existing park.

Although planning requests are supposed to be decided in a matter of weeks the application has been held up by the need for an ecological and flood risk assessment of the site as well as checking it will be meeting rules over discharges into water courses which lead to Poole Harbour.

Some changes have been made to the original proposals, validated in March 2022, to deal with some of the concerns raised about the expansion and its likely impact.

Dorset Echo:

If approved the extension to the site could create at least four new jobs and bring increased visitor spending to the whole area, according to planning agents, acting for the site.

The application asks to station lodge caravans, create touring ‘super pitches’ and change the use of a farm building on the site for caravan storage. It also allows for the use of portable showers and toilets on the site.

The requested changes could bring in up to 79 additional caravans and touring pitches and provide 66 new parking spaces - more than doubling the area to be used for holidays.

Dorset Echo:

Permissions for the Sandyholme site date back to 1966 and across the years have been amended to allow 105 static or touring caravans year-round for holiday purposes.

Agents for the application, Avison Young, say the expansion will further support the Dorset rural economy, especially Owermoigne, Crossways and Dorchester, and help in the long-term management of the countryside with landscaping proposals which will help the extension fit into the area without being too obtrusive.

“By careful tree planting within the application site, and by reinforcing the existing hedge boundaries with additional tree and hedge planting, the proposal would not introduce any development type that is not already part of the local landscape character. In this regard the extension of the existing park is seen to complement and respect the existing context,” said a statement to Dorset Council to justify the application.

The site would continue to use the existing access off Moreton Road that currently serves the main park and would use an existing farm access for the building proposed to be used for caravan storage.