Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Eddie Bisknell
A Derbyshire farmer is set to see their countryside glamping pod plans rejected for a third time due to a lack of public transport links to the rural site.
Derbyshire Dales District Council officials have recommended that plans to build four glamping pods at the Racecourse Retreat campsite in Hay Lane, a mile outside Wirksworth, are rejected for the third time.
Councillors will have the final say on the issue, having already rejected a previous four-pod scheme last year and six-pod scheme in 2022.
The same proposed reasons for refusal remain intact, with officials saying the scheme represents an “unsuitable form of rural tourism” due to the lack of public transport links and reliance on private vehicles, along with potential impact on a neigbouring listed farmhouse.
Council policy details that these schemes must be accessible via public transport or via safe, attractive 10-minute walk from public transport services.
Documents filed by the applicant, Barry Britland, say he would be paying for a free mini-bus to serve the development, running from dedicated collection points such as Cromford train station or the local bus stop.
Planners say the “mini-bus” would be the owner’s private seven-seater Land Rover Discovery, with transport for less able users to be provided by a third party.
Google Maps shows the Racecourse Retreat is a 30-minute, 1.2-mile walk from Wirksworth town centre, with no bus routes running past it and all bus stops located in Wirksworth.
There are numerous holiday cottages listed in the vicinity of the proposed glamping pods, all of which would rely on the same private transport.
A total of nine objection letters have been submitted to the council over the plans, along with one support letter.
Opposition includes the four-pod site being “inappropriate for the scale of the hamlet”; that the minibus solution would not be sustainable; increase in traffic and light pollution and reliance on private vehicles; and impact on privacy and a listed building.
The support letter says the plan would improve local accommodation and support a family business and farm diversification.
Sir Richard FitzHerbert, High Sheriff of Derbyshire, owner of Tissington Hall and chairman of the Visit Peak District and Derbyshire tourism board, has lent his support to the scheme, as have the National Farmers Union.
They say the plan meets a need for visitor accommodation, with local spending linked to tourists using the facility, and that the pods would be “unobtrusive” in the landscape.
Documents submitted with this new application state that the planned development is “identical” to that refused last May, but is now supported by acoustic surveys and a heritage impact assessment.
Two of the pods would be concrete and effectively merged into the hillside with soil piled on them, and would measure 9.65 metres in length and 3.45 metres in width, complete with a small outdoor deck.
The remaining two pods would be 10 metres long and 3.8 metres wide.
The Racecourse Retreat site which is a mile from Wirksworth. Image from Google.
