Test Valley Borough Council: Dan Wilden is pleased to have secured planning permission for an existing caravan site located in the Hampshire countryside near Romsey. The proposal involved the reconfiguration of the existing site to add in five new log cabins and increase the number of caravan pitches permitted at the site.
The discrete position of the site means that the proposals would have very limited landscape impact and as such the principle of the proposal was accepted by the planning officer. As is so often the case currently in this area, the key issue to resolve was the impact of the proposal in terms of nutrient neutrality – in this case the impact of nitrates within the Solent catchment.
The proposal included the replacement of the existing package treatment plant with a brand new unit to serve the whole site. As the new unit would be far more effective at removing nitrogen we were able to demonstrate that even with the anticipated additional guests, the overall proposal would result in a net reduction in nitrogen load arising from the site. However all these changes needed to be tied up in a legal agreement to ensure that the correct new package treatment plant is installed and is properly run and maintained.
This is the second camping proposal in Test Valley approved this year, each requiring a non-standard approach to nitrogen neutrality. If you have a site where nutrient neutrality is an issue or indeed any other habitat regulations issue, why not contact Pure Town Planning for advice?