THE owner of a pop-up campsite has been left “bemused” by a decision to reject his plans...after a council leader backed calls for more sites.

Ragmarsh Farm, in Bradfield, set up a tent-only campsite on its land last year to help compensate for money lost on a burger van business due to the lockdown.

The farm created the campsite at its Shore Lane site under permitted development rights, but it has sparked concerns about the impact on the nearby area of outstanding natural beauty.

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Following objections from councillors, farmer Richard Mitchell submitted formal plans for a 120-pitch site, but they were refused – despite cutting back to just 80 pitches.

Planning officers from Tendring Council rejected the plans due to “insufficient information” being provided regarding how habitats will be protected.

But now, the council’s leader Neil Stock has retweeted a Twitter post calling for councils to cut red tape and give pop-up sites the green light.

Mr Mitchell said: “We were a little bemused to see Neil Stock retweet the post – yet our site was refused.

Gazette: Ragmarsh Farm campingRagmarsh Farm camping

“Last year we ran a successful pop-up campsite and received several visits from Tendring Council, who reported no breaches and also sent us an official classification email that we were able to pop-up in future years.

“Based on this email, we made big investments and took bookings for more than 100 guests.

“Apparently the £5,000 we’ve spent on ecological and visual impact surveys isn’t good enough and they want yet more surveys which will take a year or more to complete.”

“It just seems to be everything the Government is asking farmers to provide – tourism, economic recovery, farm diversification, pop-up campsites – the council is standing in the way of.”

“We feel disappointed people have lost their break away and that Tendring Council haven’t even considered the benefits this could bring to the area. It’s been a frustrating situation.”

Mr Stock said: “Our back to business programme is in place to make sure we do everything we can to support businesses to bounce back from the impact of Covid-19 and get our local economy growing once again.

“Initiatives from the Government to help businesses diversify and support this economic growth are welcomed in Tendring; but each case must be determined on its individual merits.

“As the applicants have indicated they intend to appeal against the decision, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”