Ellesmere holiday park 'will not be blot on landscape' - developer

Simon Darlington believes people have misread his intentions to create 20 holiday lodges on Castlefields car park, near to The Mere.

The scheme, which will be decided by a Government planning inspector, has sparked opposition in some quarters, with some fearing it will create a "visual blot" on the landscape.

But Oswestry Caravans' owner Mr Darlington, who launched an appeal to overturn Shropshire Council's decision to refuse the proposal, said: "It would only be done on the car park and not on any green land.

"It will not destroy anything. Every single one of these trees are staying.

"When people say I'm doing this and doing that it is simply not true.

"The Mere is the crown and needs protecting, but people need to understand things evolve."

Mr Darlington claims the car park is currently under-used and the site desperately needs to be tidied up.

"This area is a mess. There's nothing beautiful about it," he said.

"The car park is in a poor condition and the picnic benches are in a state of ill-repair.

"You have people coming up here in the evenings using it for other things such as drinking."

Residents have also raised concerns about the loss of the car park hitting tourism.

But Mr Darlington believes far from damaging tourism, the scheme will actually encourage more people to visit the town.

He said: "It is my aim to make it more open and bring more people in. The footpath will remain open."

An original application for the change of use of the car park to a touring and static caravan park was previously withdrawn before Shropshire Council made a decision on it.

"The council didn't ask me to scale it back, it was my decision to," Mr Darlington said.

He is also unhappy that Shropshire Council turned down the application last year, claiming the authority previously seemed to support the idea when the site was put out to tender.

A Government planning inspector is now set to make a final ruling in the coming months.

"I won't stop with the appeal, even if it goes to court," Mr Darlington added.

"No matter what the costs are I have to carry on. I believe in aiming for success in life. I would love for people to come up here and see for themselves what I am trying to do."

Councillor Ian Ward, mayor of Ellesmere, has previously said: "I very much hope that Shropshire Council will be able to successfully defend this appeal and obtain an award of costs against the applicant to deter others."