Ironbridge holiday lodges plan submitted to council
Plans have been unveiled for a new development of holiday lodges to be placed in a popular tourist area of Shropshire.
Proposals have been submitted for 12 lodges to be placed on land off Buildwas Road in Ironbridge.
Applicant Telford Four Limited says that the lodge accommodation would be in addition to the existing clay pigeon shooting facility.
“Users of the visitor accommodation have the opportunity to use this facility,” says a planning statement with the application.
“The lodges have a direct association with the extant and established leisure uses at the site and their function and use remain intrinsic and offer an expansion of the established uses at the site.”
Telford Four Limited says that the exact positioning of the lodges, materials and colours/finishes would be confirmed as they are sourced and delivered to the site.
The development falls outside both the protected Ironbridge World Heritage Site, and the Ironbridge Conservation Area, but its proximity means that it will be assessed to determine that there will be ‘no harm on these protected areas, or upon heritage assets’.
Existing land uses in proximity to the site include homes, clay pigeon shooting, haulage, commercial uses, and a recently permitted BESS (Battery Energy Storage System).
Telford Four Limited said that there are ‘well-established self-catering accommodation’ near the proposed site including Buildwas Leisure Site (a holiday park comprising 106 static caravans and 48 lodges along with supporting infrastructure).
Plans for the holiday lodge site include low-level directional LED lighting with shrouds to prevent light spillage.
The applicant says that this would ‘reduce light pollution and running costs’ and that lighting at the site would be ‘kept to a minimum’ and only used to provide safe pedestrian routes, or when triggered by a motion sensor.
The lodges are also proposed to include ‘embedded renewables’ such as solar panels in the roofs of the lodge accommodation.
“Whilst not at a commercial scale, this energy can contribute and be stored during daylight hours when visitors are expected to be off-site and then used in the evenings,” the application adds.
The woodland located at the northern boundary of the site is not proposed for development and the applicant says it ‘will be safeguarded’.
“The lodges will provide tourism accommodation at a location sustainably accessible to well-established tourist destinations and attractions in Ironbridge and the wider area,” the application concludes.
“Any potential effects of the proposed development are considered to be minimal and therefore acceptable and, where necessary, mitigation measures have been set out to reduce potential impacts of the development.”
Plans can be viewed on the Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning portal on its website, application number TWC/2024/0165. Any comments should be made during the consultation phase which ends on March 20.
