THE BOUNDARIES of a holiday park have been confirmed after its owner asked its local council to make a decision.
Michael Vowles, whose firm purchased St Pierre Country Park, in Portskewett, in 2016 asked Monmouthshire County Council for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm that two areas of land beside the area used for luxury holiday lodges formed part of the site.
His application said the evolution of the site over 20 years has meant the “exact boundary of lawful use has not been defined”. He asked the boundaries be confirmed to include a play area, at its northern end, and the southern part of the site, which is a service area that houses the sewage treatment system and gas tanks.
He provided aerial photographs, dating back to 2004, that demonstrates how the site has changed and that the areas were either maintained or in part use.
The application acknowledged the 2004 photograph doesn’t show any activity taking place in the storage area but Mr Vowles says it would have been used for dog walking.
The application for a certificate showing the use was lawful was approved after it was amended, at the planning officer’s request, to remove its southern most part.
Officer Kate Young wrote in her report: “There was insufficient evidence that, that part of the site had been used continually for the last 10 years.”
However she said the application had demonstrated that “two areas in question have been used for the specified purposes for at least 10 years” and “the planning authority has no evidence to contradict this” and granted the certificate.
