A CARAVAN park has submitted plans to expand its accommodation offering by 27 holiday lodges, while reducing the size of its golf course.

Akebar Caravan Park, near Bedale, is a well established business with the Friar’s Head restaurant and a18-hole golf course with golf driving range.

Currently the business employs 28 full time staff.

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In a planning statement submitted to Richmondshire District Council, Barrs and Co Chartered Surveyors said: "Akebar Park supports most of the other parts of the business, particularly the 18-hole golf course which is relatively expensive to maintain and operate and produces only limited revenue.

"After some careful consideration, the applicant has made the decision to reduce the golf from an 18-hole to a nine-hole course to reduce costs, support the business and defend the jobs on the site.

"This reduction in size will help reduce the maintenance and overheads involved with an 18-hole course and will help maintain the viability of operating a golf course facility on the site.

"This application seeks to allow a small scale extension of the caravan park to provide an additional 27 holiday static caravans and holiday lodges on an area of adjacent land to east of the existing site

"It also seeks to allow this successful rural business to move on from the affects of coronavirus and provide additional high quality tourist accommodation on the park.

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"This will enable the Akebar Park to both defend the existing jobs across all parts of the business and increase jobs both during the construction period and in the long term.

"When the above typical spend per pitch is considered in relation to the subject application for an additional 27 caravan and lodge holiday homes we can see that the proposal, if approved, could generate an additional spending of over £200,000 per annum in the local economy each year.

"The proposed area is set well back from the road, it is partly screened by existing trees and the additional native tree planting and landscaping that is proposed as part of the scheme will further integrate the existing site into the landscape and overall will produce a landscape gain from the proposal."