RESIDENTS of Maer Lane and town councillors united last week to make a stand against a plan to increase the number of caravans at a holiday resort in Bude.

They claim that Bude Holiday Resort’s proposal to add 158 static caravans to the main site area and open up other fields to year-round occupancy would ultimately damage the ‘unique hamlet’.

But the resort company says the proposal will lead to road improvements and that with more static caravans there will be fewer touring ones using Maer Lane.

The application came before the town council’s planning committee last Thursday — and residents of Maer Lane were there in force to make sure they had their say on the proposal.

Planning consultant Walter Wonnacott, of Peter Wonnacott Planning in Bude, opened the discussion, saying he hoped to clear up some misunderstandings about the proposal, largely about the number of caravans on site and the use of Maer Lane itself.

Bude Holiday Resort Ltd said in a statement: “The resort has permission for siting of 150 touring caravans in the main site area for 12 months of the year. The proposal is to change these units from touring caravans to static caravans.

“The application is for a net gain of only eight units in this area and is not for a residential home or park licence and any persons hiring or owning a caravan are not permitted to live in it as their main residence.

“The lower fields are in peak demand in summer, but the application for year-round use would allow for short-notice bookings and the re-siting of existing seasonal touring caravans.

“The proposal would provide for a longer tourist season, which is a policy aim for Bude in the Local Plan. It is our long-term investment aim to provide Bude and its visitors with a five star holiday park, providing modern high standards of touring, camping and caravan holidays.

“The proposal would lead to road surface improvements, improved entrance arrangements by-passing the hamlet of Maer and a significant reduction in the number of touring caravans that currently use Maer Lane.”

But residents felt the change of use to permanent sited caravans would have a ‘massive impact’ on the surrounding environment and overall aesthetic nature of the natural landscape.

Maer Lane resident Robert Colwill spoke on behalf of the other residents and pointed out that the touring caravans did not fill the field for 52 weeks of the year even if they were currently allowed to, so potentially having 158 static caravans that did would ‘clearly have a massive impact’.

He said: “This is not about people that are afraid of change, but people that are passionate about the historic area that they live in, and they do not want that damaged without good reason.

“You can see all over the holiday park that there are signs advertising to ‘buy a caravan’, as well as lots of posters up around town saying the same thing. These people aren’t interested in increasing tourism for Bude and making it a town that doesn’t just have to rely on summer trade, they are simply just trying to make as much money from ground rent.

“This is a landlord exercise. This is not about increasing tourism in the town.”

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week’s edition of the Post.