A Threlkeld farmer’s appeal against a refusal to site five holiday chalets on his land has been dismissed.
In October 2020, planners at the Lake District National Park Authority turned down the application by Graham Teasdale, of Doddick Farm.
He had sought permission from park planners in August that year to change the use of a small area of rough pasture land.
The aim was to create a horseshoe arrangement of holiday chalets with parking and then use it for short term two-to-three bed accommodation as part of the established holiday business at the site.
But Mr Teasdale appealed when the plan was refused. In a report published last month, an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate, has upheld the LDNPA’s refusal and dismissed the appeal.
In the appeal, Mr Teasdale’s representatives had highlighted various cases in the vicinity where holiday accommodation had been granted planning permission by the LDNPA – including camping pods at a nearby farm.
Agents from the Penrith-based Manning Elliott Partnership, acting for Mr Teasdale, had also told park planners that the chalet idea had superseded an original application for camping pods and safari-style tents.
The agents said that this came about after an LDNPA planning officer had recommended providing a more ‘permanent character’ to the development rather than temporary tents.
Threlkeld Parish Council objected to the chalet plan on the grounds of over development and concerns about increased vehicles turning on and off the site from the A66, although Highways England did not.
The inspector ruled that the proposed development could harm the outstanding universal appeal of the Lake District World Heritage Site.
He described the site as being in open countryside on the lower slopes of Blencathra.
Chalets would introduce a substantial built development on to land where no buildings currently existed, he found.
The inspector’s report said: “It would have a significant visual presence when viewed from the wider landscape to the north including from the public right of way and public access land on the slopes of Blencathra looking south towards Threlkeld Common.
“The chalets would appear separate from the existing permitted cluster of buildings at the farm. As such, the proposed chalets would not sit
comfortably with the existing development pattern.
“The illumination that would occur, the car parking areas and general activities that would be associated with the chalets would exacerbate this urbanising effect, further eroding the unspoilt qualities of the site.
“It would therefore not maintain a sense of openness or integrate appropriately with the character and appearance of its surroundings and would introduce further built development into sensitive views from Blencathra,” his report said.
Proposals to screen the development would take many years, the inspector added.
While the materials proposed for the chalets would reflect traditional stone and slate to a degree, he said, this would not adequately mitigate the harm that would be caused.
The decision will go before a meeting of the LDNPA’s development control panel.
