Residents up in arms over Ashley caravan park

Villagers are up in arms over plans to create a 50 lodge holiday park on nine acres of land just outside Ashley.

Around 50 residents attended a meeting of the parish council to voice their concerns over the proposal, which some see as a ‘back door’ way of developing a permanent low-cost housing site, which would not normally be allowed in open countryside.

The applicant is Lovat Parks Ltd and the site is in Dalham Road.

The proposed lodges would be one to four bedroomed but in planning terms are classed as caravans, with each one having mains water, electric, foul drainage, piped gas, TV and WiFi facilities.

At Friday’s meeting, residents raised a host of objections to the proposals including road access, which was said to be hazardous, there being no demand for holiday accommodation in the village, noise and light pollution, the negative effect on wildlife and the visibility of the site from miles around.

One resident of Dalham Road said: “This is exactly what Ashley does not need and will completely ruin the character of the village.”

A Dalham resident claimed it would cause ‘irreversible damage’ to the area.

“This area is not a tourist site and there is little in the way of entertainment and facilities to attract the volume of caravans this application proposes,” said an objection which is one of nearly 20 already been logged to the application on East Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning portal.

Newmarket Town Council planners discussed the proposal on Monday as a neighbouring authority and agreed to object.

The planning reference is 19/00518/FUM.