A HOLIDAY lodge park has submitted plans to North Yorkshire Council to extend its site.

Planning permission is requesting the change of use of land to allow the siting of 27 holiday units within the boundary of the existing holiday lodge park at Flowery Dell Lodges, Hudswell, Richmond.

According to a planning statement, Flowery Dell Lodge Park is a small rural tourism business providing holiday lodge accommodation to customers visiting the area.

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At present, there are 16 holiday lodges on site and the business currently employs five full-time employees.

The statement reads: "In order to protect the employment on the site and the viability of the business the site needs to expand to provide more lodges to meet demand from customers.

"More lodges will improve the viability of the business as it will greatly improve economies of scale and the efficiency of the business.

"This expansion of the business will not only secure the existing employment on site but will also enhance the tourism spend in the local economy."

The application seeks to allow the business to expand within the existing site on well-screened land immediately adjacent to the existing lodge development to provide an additional 27 holiday units, these will be developed to a low density across fully screened currently unused land.

The application area is well-screened by mature trees along all boundaries.

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The report adds: "Overall there will be no additional visual impact from the development as a result of the proposal.

"Currently the park is a small, well-run rural tourism business, which provides a ‘rural retreat’ for its customers. At present there are only 16 holiday lodges on site, these are a combination of built on-site and factory-manufactured units that conform to the statutory definition of a caravan.

"Despite being small the existing business currently needs to employ five full-time employees.

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As a result, the business is expensive to operate and suffers from poor economies of scale which has held back the business and investment in recent years.

"At present, the business employs five full-time staff and also a team of local contractors maintaining the lodges and on-site facilities.

"Once the proposed development is complete it is anticipated that the business will employ at least nine full-time staff."