National park refuses councillor’s bid to regularise long-running campsite

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

A call by a councillor to regularise a lack of planning permission at his campsite before he bought it back in 2019 has been refused by the national park.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Nick Neumann and wife, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, sought a certificate of lawfulness certificate to show that Rainbolts Hill Farm, Roch been operated as a seasonal camping/touring site for the required minimum period of 10 years.

The application, by Mr Neumann, who is also the local county councillor, said it had operated between 1972 and 2025 April-October, with up to 50 pitches available daily.

An application for a certificate of lawfulness allows an applicant to stay at or keep a development if they can provide proof of occupancy or use over a prolonged period.

An officer report recommending refusal said: “For the operation of the site as described to be considered lawful, there must have been a breach of planning control against which the LPA could have taken enforcement action at any time throughout a continuous and uninterrupted 10-year period between when the use began in 1972 up until the present day, and that it did not take any such action.

“The requisite period does not have to be the previous 10 years immediately prior to the application being submitted. However, it is important that if the period is more historic, there cannot have been any abandonment of the use subsequently, and it must also be in operation today (at the time the application was made).

“Whilst the [park] is satisfied that there appears to have been no such abandonment, the more significant issue is the extent to which there has been a 10-year period within which a continuous and uninterrupted breach has taken place at the site.”

It added: “Incumbent within the process of [such] applications is a need to be absolutely and abundantly clear as to what has taken place, when and how often, etc. The application contains a lot of detail and information but lacks it in certain other areas.

“In conclusion, the local planning authority considers that, on the required balance of probabilities, a satisfactory case has not been made to support the overall contention that the site is in lawful use as described.

Speaking after the refusal, Cllr Neuman stressed there hadn’t been any complaints or enforcement action, and he and his wife were “proactively trying to resolve and regularise an issue we inherited when we bought the farm”.

“When we bought Rainbolts Hill in 2019 we inherited a legacy issue with the campsite not having planning permission even though the campsite having a 50-plus year history of accommodating campers, and never having any enforcement notices served, which has been evidenced by previous owners.

“What’s strange was PCNPA approved the construction of a large facilities building to include toilets, showers, laundry and games room in 2005 specifically for a campsite. We have recently met with PCNPA officers to understand their concerns and will be resubmitting a revised certificate of lawfulness with further robust evidence in due course.

“We are merely trying to regularise this historic issue that we have inherited and will be working constructively with PCNPA officers to do so.”

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