Plans to build "glamping domes” in Derbyshire countryside set to be refused

The scheme, submitted by Georgina Mosley to Derbyshire Dales District Council, aims to build three glamping domes on raised platforms in land off Bent Lane close to Darley Dale.

A project for four glamping domes was rejected in September and now the applicant has come back with plans for one less dome.

It had been rejected due to the site’s “remote location in open countryside not served by public transport” with the business to be “wholly reliant” on private vehicles for access.

It was also felt the design of the units, built by Tru Domes, would appear “intrusive and incongruous” in the surrounding landscape and nearby Peak District National Park.

Each dome would be four metres high and seven metres wide and contain a double bed, kitchen and living area, toilet and shower, built on a raised nine-metre-by-eight-metre deck.

The site would also have a “solar array” providing renewable energy and foul water would be processed at a treatment plant close by.

Darley Dale Town Council said the issues with the previous plans had now been addressed and that it no longer opposed the scheme.

This includes the addition of electric vehicle charging points and more planting including a wildflower meadow and the inclusion of a shuttle bus to the site from Darley Dale, Bakewell and Matlock.

However, district council officers, recommending that the plan be refused, wrote: “The application includes the provision of electric vehicle charge points and the application states that the applicant would run a shuttle service for occupants to nearby towns. These mitigations are noted.

“The provision of electric vehicle chargers and a shuttle service are welcomed in principle. However, this would not overcome the fundamental concern that visitors to the site would be reliant upon the private car (irrespective of energy source and whether operated by the occupants or the applicant).

“These mitigations would not individually or in combination deliver sustainable tourism development.

“The creation of new-build holiday accommodation in this otherwise remote and isolated location in the countryside, where visitors would be likely to be dependent upon the private car, would constitute an unstainable form of development which does not promote sustainable rural tourism.”

The applicant had written that the site, a mile north of Darley Dale, would “allow guests to use sustainable transport methods during their stay to visit the local shops and restaurants either on foot or by bicycle”.

A report submitted with the application detailed: “By introducing a new and existing accommodation option to the area, it is believed the guests will help the local economy by visiting the businesses in the surrounding towns as well as Darley Dale.

“With approximately 16 people staying at the site at any one time, this will benefit the local small businesses as the site operator intends on promoting said business to guests on their arrival.”

The report says the domes would have a “high quality” design and will be green on the outside so they are less visible from the surrounding area.

It says that no concrete would be required and the glamping domes would not be a permanent fixture and could be removed in the future, with only “minimal” groundwork required to create a level platform and dome footings.

The domes would have a “polar insulation design” allowing them to reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 90 per cent.

Each dome would have LED light fittings and “water-saving sanitary fittings and appliances”.

“We feel the site would be providing a luxury alternative for visitors to the area,” the report detailed.