PLANNERS will decide today whether to allow a development of luxury lodges to be built at Sutton on the Forest near Easingwold.

The Forest Lakes project, put forward by Yorkshire-based firm Luxury Lodge Group, would see 46 eco-friendly, high-spec wooden lodges, each with two three or four bedrooms, developed on an 11-acre lakeside site on the fringes of the village of Sutton on the Forest. The holiday development has the support of Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity, and if approved would be open for business next year.

The plans have attracted local opposition, but developers claim it would create 124 new jobs including 44 on the Forest Lakes site.

In a letter to Hambleton planners Sir Gary said that Welcome to Yorkshire was giving its full backing to the Forest Lakes scheme, which the organisation believed would attract high spending visitors to the area.

He said: “With more people opting to holiday in Yorkshire it’s important the county offers accommodation that caters for every taste and budget. Luxurious holidays are becoming ever more popular and a development such as Forest Lakes will no doubt prove incredibly popular with those who wish to treat themselves to a five-star base from which to explore this great county.”