Osborn Leisure Ltd is seeking permission for a change of use connected to its Chestnut Meadow Country Park site in Ninfield Road.
The application to Rother District Council seeks permission to begin using 22 static caravans, which are currently on the site, as full-time residential accommodation.
Currently, these caravans are subject to an occupancy condition which prevents each of them from being used as a sole or main residence.
Further conditions also mean the site can only be lawfully occupied for 10 months of the year.
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In general, council planning policies seek to avoid the loss of holiday accommodation, although agents for the operator argue the small scale of the site and the need for housing within the district should see the scheme approved.
In a statement submitted as part of the application, a spokesman for the operator said: “The loss of the bed spaces from these 22 static caravans on the site represents an extremely small proportion (0.054 per cent) of the 41,000 [bed spaces available within the district’s caravan and camping sites].
“It is contended that this will have an insignificant impact on the self-catering sector and economy within the district.”
The statement added: “In this case, the proposal also provides a quick solution to adding to the housing stock, the units are in place and need no development or construction time and the necessary physical infrastructure to enable them to function as permanently occupied residential park homes is already in place.”
The application goes on to argue that the lack of physical changes to the site would prevent refusal on other grounds, such as its access, drainage or impact on the character of the area.
The last of these — impact on the character of the area — had been a significant factor in the refusal of a previous proposal from the same applicant.
This previous scheme, which was dismissed at appeal in April 2023, sought permission to erect 50 static caravans on land immediately to the north west of the current site.
These refused caravans would also have been for full-time occupation, being described as a ‘retirement park’ by the applicant.
Osborn Leisure also runs the Golden Cross Caravan Park in Hailsham and the Warrenwood caravan park in Pevensey.
The operator has submitted similar change of use applications for these other sites in recent years.
In 2021, the operator secured planning permission from Wealden District to use 29 static caravans at Golden Cross as full-time homes.
Through a separate application, it also secured permission to use nine out of 25 static caravans at Warrenwood for the same purpose.
It is currently in the process of seeking further planning permission covering the remaining 14 caravans at Warrenwood.
For further information on the proposals see application reference RR/2024/2065/P on the Rother District Council website.
