'Poor design and excessive scale' - Inspector throws out expansion plans for leisure park near Oswestry

The owners of Brookside Leisure Park in Bronygarth near Oswestry applied for permission for several developments at the site in March last year.

The park, which has been operating for more than 25 years, has several holiday lodges and a sports hall - out of which runs a private members sports club with around 70 members. Use of the sports facilities are also offered out to local schools.

Their plans involved the change of use of the on-site manager’s house to additional holiday accommodation, extensions to the sports hall for additional tourist facilities including a new indoor swimming pool, and building a replacement manager's accommodation on top of the extended sports hall.

According to the original application, submitted by David Parker Planning Associates on behalf of the owners, the developments would help justify a £75,000 bill to repair the "failing" sports hall roof by increasing income for the business.

But Shropshire Council's planning officers slammed the plans, stating the proposed extension to the roof of the sports hall would "result in a building of poor design and of excessive scale". 

Rejecting the proposals in July, the council said that the new tourist accommodation would constitute as an "additional residential development in a countryside location" which was not justified by the limited economic and social benefits of the scheme.

The council also raised concerns over the amount of additional traffic that the development would cause and the impact it could have on the safety of a nearby country road. 

Unhappy with the council's decision, the owners appealed the decision with the Government Planning Inspectorate, arguing that the work was neccessary to ensures the long-term viability of "a cherished rural business and community asset". 

Now, the inspector has sided with the local authority and thrown out the appeal.

On the design of the proposed manager's accommodation, Inspector J D Westbrook said the current sports hall is currently of limited visibility and has very little impact on the area. 

But the extension would make the building 3.3m high, making what the inspector determined would be "an incongruous feature on top of the otherwise practical and plain sports building". 

In regards to the conversion of the existing manager's house into holiday accommodation, the inspector pointed out a Section 106 agreement that was put in place when the property was built in 2015. 

The agreement stated that if the rural workers' dwelling was no longer required, it would be made available as an affordable dwelling. 

The government inspector also agreed with Shropshire Council over the potential impact of the increased traffic, and determined the proposal would have the potential to "result in significant harm to highway safety along the lane". 

Dismissing the appeal, Inspector Westbrook said: "Any benefits of the proposed enhancements of the facilities at the Leisure Park would be outweighed by the harmful effects on the character and appearance of the area, the unsustainability of the location of the park with regard to any planned expansion, and the dangers to highway safety resulting from the creation of what is effectively a new main entrance to the site on a narrow lane with poor visibility both approaching and around the site."

The full application and decision is available to view online on Shropshire Council's planning portal using reference number: 25/03330/REF