PROPOSALS for a water slide attraction on land near Cardinham has been refused by Cornwall Council.

Mr James Lance applied to the local authority for permission for the change of use of the land in order to install a large water slide on land to the south of Park Farm, Ladder Lane, Cardinham.

He proposed that the slide attraction would operate for 70 days a year, particularly on bank holidays and school holiday times during the week, and on other weekends between May and September.

The site has previously been the subject of enforcement action by the council amid alleged use without prior planning permission, although the case was closed when the planning application was received.

In the planning application, the agent for the applicant told the council’s planners: “The application site is a rectangular shaped field located immediately south of Park Farm and the neighbouring campsite (Gwel-an-Nans).

“The field slopes down to the southwest towards adjoining agricultural land. The site is bounded by established hedgerows screening much of it from immediate view. The site lies in a locally defined Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV). The site lies between a small rural settlement of Little Downs (to the east) and Cardinham Woods (to the west some 700m away).

“The site is amongst a collection of leisure facilities and attractions around the southeastern edge of Bodmin (a main settlement as per the Cornwall Local Plan (CLP)). Bodmin is a sizeable settlement with a wide range of services and facilities and very good access to public transport.

“The proposed business relates to the provision of a tourist attraction in the form of an (inflatable) water slide sited on the land for a temporary period of up to 70 days per calendar year. The business will mainly operate from the first May bank holiday (3-day weekend), then the school half term week and the second May bank holiday.

“Following this it will operate at weekends only until the school summer holidays commence when it will operate weekly until the September term time begins; at this point the slide and associated infrastructure will be packed away. Normal operating times are 10.00 until 18.00 and the facility operates a pre-booking online system. Occasionally specialist groups such as the Army Cadets will request a later 19.00 – 20.00 session.

“Visitor numbers are variable and weather dependent but are estimated be up to 12 cars (family groups of four on average) arriving per hour.

“The business will employ 8-10 people working at one time and will employ 20-25 in total. Equally, the business has and continues to use a range of local companies including Duchy Timber, Cornwall Coffee Co, and Roskillys Ice Cream to name a few.

“The inflatable water slide is positioned on the land with a scaffold frame at one end. All the associated infrastructure is temporary/mobile, not permanently affixed to the ground and is easily dismantled/stored with land returned to its original agricultural state outside of dates of operation.”

The proposals were met with a number of objections from residents, with 20 objections lodged on the Cornwall Council planning portal, while eight were in support of the proposals.

Cardinham Parish Council objected to the proposals, stating: “The Cardinham Parish Council objects to this application again. The application has been revised and is now for a temporary change of use for 3 years only, with the rest of the application remaining the same as before ie the siting of a water slide attraction for up to 70 days (operational period) annually. The Parish Council is objecting on the same grounds as before, as shown in our objection put forward in September.

“Additionally, the Parish Council wishes the following to be included in the list of the grounds for refusal:

“There is no policy in the application to cover the storage of chemicals at the site (e.g. are they locked away?/bundled?), nor any information on what action would be taken should a spillage or leakage occur, particularly if any chemicals were to enter the nearby stream. What are the safety implications of this?

“The Parish Council also has concerns regarding the choice of 3 years for this facility to be temporarily in place and operational . How was this decided - why couldn't a shorter period be used?”

Refusing the application, Cornwall Council’s planning department told the applicant: “The proposed water slide attraction is in an unsuitable location which is heavily reliant on a private vehicle and is not accessible by a range of transport modes and fails to protect landscape character.

“The benefits to the tourist economy from the scheme do not outweigh the harm caused through the unsustainability of the location together with the adverse impact upon the rural character and appearance of the area which is within an Area of Great Landscape Value through the introduction of an incongruous man-made structure and erosion of the tranquillity of the landscape. Consequently, the development does not amount to sustainable development.”

Giving a secondary reason, the planning department added: “In the absence of a suitable noise assessment to assess the impact of the proposed water slide attraction on the residential properties and campsite business to the north west of the application site, the proposal is not considered acceptable. Taking a precautionary approach, and without the appropriate assessment to prove otherwise, it would be deemed that the introduction of this tourist facility would cause significant noise harm to neighbouring properties which would be considered unacceptable.”

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