Caravan park faces legal action over failure to deliver affordable housing

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

Enforcement action is set to be taken against a caravan park after it failed to deliver a key affordable housing commitment linked to a major planning approval.

The site, in Pembrokeshire, has been accused of breaching legal agreements tied to a development that was only granted permission on the basis that affordable homes would be provided.

Members of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s development management committee backed enforcement measures at a meeting on April 22, targeting Ridgeway Resort, formerly known as Buttyland Caravan and Camping Park near Manorbier.

The action relates to non-compliance with planning obligations, including the failure to transfer land earmarked for affordable housing, as well as a lack of response to a formal request for information.

The development was originally refused by the National Park in 2020 but later approved on appeal by Planning Inspectorate Wales in 2021. The scheme included outline permission for 14 affordable homes, alongside plans to upgrade the existing caravan park from 85 seasonal pitches to 85 year-round static caravans, and the installation of a new sewage pumping station.

Approval was granted subject to a series of strict conditions, including a requirement that land for the affordable housing be transferred to a local housing authority or registered social landlord within 30 days of development starting.

Another condition stated that no caravans could be occupied until the land transfer had been completed.

A report presented to councillors said concerns had been raised as early as May 2023 about the failure to meet pre-commencement conditions. The site owner had indicated difficulties in reaching agreement with a registered social landlord over the transfer.

Despite this, further applications to discharge conditions were submitted, though the authority said the full information required to assess them was not received until mid-2025 following repeated requests.

A site visit in 2024 confirmed that the land transfer had still not taken place. Officers were told at the time that the owner believed the land had been transferred to the National Park, which was not the case.

Urgency

The report highlighted the urgency of the situation, noting that static caravans had already been installed on the site. By May 2025, 17 caravans were in place, 16 of them occupied.

It added that the affordable housing provision was a “critical element” of the planning permission and that the current situation represented a significant breach.

Committee members were told that, following the drafting of the report, legal representatives for the site had contacted officers asking for enforcement action to be paused, claiming that progress had been made.

However, officers said there remained “fundamental breaches”, particularly in relation to the delivery of affordable housing.

Members voted to proceed with enforcement, granting officers delegated powers to instruct solicitors to begin injunction proceedings over the ongoing issues.