EXTRA time has been given for the Creek caravan site at Ringstead – but not the 11 months of the year asked for.

Dorset Council has decided it will have to close, as others do locally, between January 15th and March 15th.

The site, which has 30 caravans, is currently only allowed to open between 1st April and October 31st each year. It has asked for a period from February 9th to January 10th the following year.

The application said it would help the local economy as more people seek to holiday at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But several residents, and others, asked for the opening times to be limited. Their letters spoke about the need for peace and quiet during the winter months and the effects they feared the extra time, and traffic, would have on the community.

There was praise from some that the proposed changes had been brought to public attention by a Local Democracy Reporting Service article in the Dorset Echo.

Several letter writers said they knew nothing of the application until the article appeared with some alleging that a site notice had not been displayed properly, although it could be seen on the Creek notice board. A planning officer confirmed that there had been a rush of letters and objections after the article appeared and it had also led the parish council to change its mind about the application, siding with the residents.

Osmington councillor Nick Ireland said that the proposal had not been sent to his parish council for comment but should have been. He said other sites had to close for at least two month and proposed the closure of the site from January 15th to March 15th each year – a move which attracted unanimous support.

Letters to the committee, mainly from Fisher Place residents said that if the site were allowed to open longer there would be nothing to stop caravan users staying for all but one month of the year – resulting, potentially, in 30 extra households in a hamlet of just five homes.

Other concerns involve the capacity of the sewage system, lack of public transport and lack of shops and other facilities – all resulting in the need for extra car travel.

One claimed that the owners were planning to replace the existing caravans with larger units, although a letter to the council from them said that no substantial changes were being planned.

“This would not make any fundamental change to the permission and the nature of the development would be unchanged, being the use of the site for the stationing of caravans,” said an application letter from the company.

“The variation and removal of conditions suggested is supported by planning policy, would provide added security for the future of the business and boost the local economy by extending the season.  This would not change the character or appearance of the site or its impact on the surrounding countryside and landscape.”