A plan to expand and revamp a holiday park near Carlisle has been submitted to Eden District Council.

The vision for the proposed development at Hesket Park Caravan Site, High Hesket was submitted in February.

It is slated to involve the demolition of a large storage building, alongside the installation of six extra static caravans, which will bring the number of caravans on site up to 43.

The last development on the site occurred in 2004 when permission was granted for the redevelopment of the site to accommodate 37 static caravans, condition 2 of that approval restricted the use of the caravans to holiday use only.

Since then two attempts have been made to remove a condition that states that the caravans may only be used for holiday let purposes, both of which were refused.

According to the plans, the first proposal on the site involves the demolition of the large storage building sited close to the frontage of the site, as shown on the Site Plan. Then, for a short while the site of the building will be used to store caravans for sale.

After this, the cleared building site will accommodate five static caravans.

The applicant stated in the planning documents: “The appearance of the caravans themselves is largely irrelevant to the assessment of this proposal.

“They will be standard modern static caravans, the design of which has been much improved in modern times.

“They will be of the same scale and character of the existing caravans on site many of which are brand new.”

The applicant also asserted a belief that the development will serve to improve the overall appearance of the area.

“The proposal is a small scale addition to an existing tourist business. The demolition of the storage building will remove the near industrial character it imposes upon the site.

“Its replacement by five static caravans behind an enhanced screen will be far less intrusive visually and will emphasise the character of the site as a tourism site. The proposal conforms entirely with adopted policy.”

More at eden.gov.uk, use ref: 21/0191.