Owners of a wild boar park are back in with plans for a wedding venue, after being knocked back by council planning chiefs in 2024.
Bosses at Bowland Wild Boar Park want permission to retain a wedding and events venue within the site, despite a previous knock-back.
Acting on behalf of the owners, PWA Planning is seeking retrospective planning permission for the temporary erection and use of five tipis to operate as an events space of partially-cleared land adjacent to the Bowland Escapes Holiday Park, off Wardsley Road, Chipping. The proposal is also for the installation of a temporary toilet unit, a temporary external catering unit, and a temporary storage unit. The proposal also includes the temporary creation of hardstanding.
This temporary proposal is requested to be permitted until November 1, 2028. After this time, all structures will be removed permanently and the land reinstated to an agreed condition. PWA also want permission to use the tipis until November 1, 2026, when they will be removed until April 1, 2027 and the same the following year.
In 2024, an application to change of use of woodland to wedding venue, including creation of hard standing, construction of toilet block and storage container and construction of large marquee area consisting of joined and separate tipis was refused.
Reasons were that the development would have a negative impact on the highway network, it not considered to constitute a small-scale use appropriate to a rural area, and not considered to be essential to the local economy or social well-being of the area.
The new application is submitted on a retrospective basis, given the works have already been undertaken, following an enforcement notice from the council. PWA claims the applicant was trying to gain interest from potential customers.
A statement says: “The tipis were erected lawfully, given they are a temporary structure; however, as they have been left up for longer than 28 days, meaning beyond this point they can no longer be considered ‘temporary’, permission is required to retain them on site for a longer period of time.
The applicant also created an additional area of hardstanding surrounding and leading up to the tipis, to allow guests to easily access and exit the site.
PWA say: “The main difference between this application and the previously refused application are that the proposed uses for the tipis has evolved significantly. The current proposal seeks to provide further detail as to the existing and proposed scope of activities to be undertaken at the flexible events space, which is operated in tandem with the existing Bowland Wild Boar Park, a well established and popular rural tourism attraction.
“By embedding the proposal within the existing operations of the Park, the events offer can now be considered ancillary and complementary, rather than a standalone use. This represents a meaningful shift towards a smaller-scale, more integrated proposal that reflects the site’s rural setting and supports the diversification of the rural economy.”
A decision will be made in coming weeks by RVBC.
