Plans lodged for expansion of Honeysuckle Country Park near Widdrington in Northumberland

A new visitor centre including a cafe restaurant and farm shop promoting local produce are included in the plans for Honeysuckle Country Park in Widdrington.

A new toilet block is also included in the proposals along with a management and sales office.

The planning application submitted on behalf of owner John Buckland also details plans for 68 new single storey mobile homes and 23 mobile caravan pitches. There are already 23 lodges on the adjacent site.

Nearby Widdrington Lakes Holiday Park, immediately to the west, is also being built by Park Holidays with permission for 475 pitches and outline planning for a further 475 holiday homes.

It is also close to the ‘Wilding West Chevington’ scheme operated by Northumberland Wildlife Trust, which aims for the regeneration of areas previously affected by opencast coalmines.

A planning report accompanying the application states: ‘The area has an established use for caravan holiday parks and lodge facilities, this is a natural progression to broaden the facilities improving the choice and appeal as a base to enjoy the local and regional attractions and will seek to enhance the area generally.

‘The finished development will, together with the existing network, help to encourage longer stay tourism to the region.’

The application also highlights a recent report for Visit Northumberland which indicated a tourism spend of £858.9 million in 2021, a figure still impacted by Covid.

It also notes ‘there will also be a broader economic benefit for local towns and visitor destinations through the tourism spend’.

It is envisaged the development would create 12 jobs in the cafe/restaurant, three in management/sales and two in site maintenance, along with many more in the construction phase and indirectly by supporting local suppliers, trades and professionals.

A new woodland meadow is among the proposals aimed at encouraging wildlife diversity, while existing trees on the site would be retained.

An open space for leisure and children’s play has been provided in the body of the site and the northern field has been set aside for informal country walks and a children’s soft play area.

A new vehicular access to the site is proposed towards the middle of the western boundary.