A glamping site on the outskirts of York has had its plan to expand by creating a new “up-market” area for campervans rejected by a government inspector.
The owners of York Holiday and Cycle Shop wanted to turn a field used for grazing horses into a 25-pitch mobile caravan park.
City of York Council rejected the application at the start of the year, saying it would harm the green belt around the village of Holtby.
In his application to the council, the site’s owner Trevor Smith said that, in his 30 years as a businessman, he had learned that “you can’t stand still, you need to keep one eye on the future”.
He added: “That is what we did in 2014 when we diversified into glamping.
“At that point glamping wasn’t even a term, now it is a part of the English language, and it has been very successful both for us and in terms of bringing the tens of thousands of guests who have stayed with us to York.
“With Covid there has been a massive uptick in motorhoming.
“We feel the time is right for us to expand into this area to build on and sustain our existing business going forward and again, bring more visitors to the local/York economy.”
An appeal against the council’s decision was submitted to the government’s planning inspectorate.
But in a decision notice released this week, an inspector agreed with the council’s decision.
Paul Martinson wrote: “The proposed development would lead to a significant reduction of openness compared to the existing situation and would conflict with the fundamental aim of keeping land permanently open.
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“As a result, I am not convinced that this could be satisfactorily mitigated by the landscaping proposed, which consists primarily of enhancing the existing hedgerow boundaries.”
That meant the proposal was “inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.
The existing York Holiday and Cycle Stop features accommodation in the form of eco-pods, with accompanying secure cycle storage, and other cycle specific facilities including a bike wash and route map service.