THE owners of a caravan park near York have vowed to lodge an appeal after their plans to expand the site were thrown out by councillors.

Members of City of York Council’s East Area Planning Sub-Committee rejected a bid to nearly double the size of Ashfield Touring Caravan Park, in Hagg Lane, Dunnington.

Owners Rob and Jenny Lewis had hoped to transform a field currently used for tents into 24 pitches for touring caravans, bringing the total number of caravan pitches to 54.

Five councillors voted against the scheme, three voted in favour, and a further two abstained.

Coun Keith Hyman, chairman of the committee, said: “We had a very long debate over this application – much longer than usual.

“But in the end, the majority voted in favour of refusing the scheme because it is against the council’s green belt policy.

“The application was to extend the existing site by a further 24 caravans – and although the field is already used on occasion for caravan rallies, making it more permanent would have been completely inappropriate in that area.”

Mr Lewis said they were “extremely disappointed” by the decision, which they would be appealing against. My big gripe is that the green belt policy offers guidelines to follow rather than hard and fast rules,” he said.

“The main reason why this has been rejected is the visible impact on the green belt – but given that we are already legitimately using the site for a number of days of the year, I don’t think it would be much different. Our own parish council had no objections and they are the people who live there and know the environment. I find it ludicrous.”

In a report sent to councillors before the meeting, planning officers recommended they refuse the scheme. They wrote: “The proposals would enlarge the area currently occupied by caravans, thereby encroaching into the open countryside to the detriment of visual amenity and the attractive rural character of the area.

“Touring caravans are generally white in colour and this is in contrast to the more natural green and brown tones of the surrounding countryside and so they would stand out more against the backdrop. The all-weather hard-standing on which the caravans would stand further alters the character of the land and begins to urbanise it. This would undermine the character and appearance of the countryside.”