Percy Wood wins appeal for 180 lodges on seven golf holes

Seven golf holes at Percy Wood can now make way for holiday lodges. On 24 September 2026, Inspector Chris Baxter allowed an appeal for Percy Wood Golf and Country Retreat at Swarland, Northumberland. The permission lets the park use its seven northernmost holes for up to 180 additional holiday lodges and static caravans, with a leisure hub, access, parking, drainage ponds, landscaping, and a reconfigured golf course.

Appeal 6010440 grants permission for application 25/04076/FUL. Work must start within three years. A section 106 agreement and 31 conditions still have to be cleared before anyone occupies a new unit.

What was allowed

William Harrison of Harrison Leisure UK Ltd appealed under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against Northumberland County Council's refusal. Councillors refused the scheme as contrary to Policy ECN 12, for landscape harm, overdevelopment and the character of Swarland.

The site is land south west of the chalets at Percy Wood, Coast View, Swarland, NE65 9JW. It is part of the course: fairways, greens, sand traps and tees among mature trees. Existing caravans lie to the north and west. Village homes are immediately east. Trees and the rest of the course lie to the south.

Harrison Holidays currently advertises an 18-hole course for guests. This permission does not freeze that layout. It includes a reconfiguration of the course as well as the change of use of those seven holes. The decision does not say how many holes will be left. "Up to 180" is a ceiling, not a promise that 180 units will be built, or that every unit will be a lodge. The wording is "static caravans/lodges".

Why landscape objections did not win

Character and appearance were the main issue. Baxter visited on 18 September 2026. He accepted that open space would be lost, but found boundary trees and the surrounding landform would hide the site from wider views. Closer views would remain, from some homes to the east and from existing caravans.

His conclusion was that the scheme "would be read as an extension to the existing rural tourism development" and would not undermine the rural setting. The leisure building would not dominate, and the new caravans would sit beside units already on the park.

A drainage pond on the east is meant to keep a gap between the new units and the village. Extra planting should screen views and break the lodges up inside the site. He gave full weight to the Newton on the Moor and Swarland Neighbourhood Plan and found no conflict with it, or with Policy ECN 12. Earlier schemes on the land, he said, were not directly comparable on scale and siting.

Traffic, flooding and village concerns

Residents and the parish council also raised traffic, flooding, wildlife, noise, lighting, loss of golf land, and pressure on local services. The council had not refused on those grounds. Baxter was satisfied the scheme would not harm ecology, flooding and drainage, footpaths or trees.

Access through the existing park entrance would be safe, in his view. Extra traffic would not harm the local network, parking would be sufficient, and the new buildings are not on allocated protected open space. He found no unacceptable effect on neighbours' privacy, noise or light, and no harm to nearby heritage.

Holiday use, the coast, and the conditions

The legal agreement secures biodiversity gain through a habitat management and monitoring plan, plus a payment to monitor it. The park is within 10 kilometres of the coast, and the scheme would affect the coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest and European sites. Natural England and the council agreed an appropriate assessment. A contribution to the Coastal Mitigation Service is in the agreement. The decision does not state the amount.

The conditions owners are most likely to notice are these:

• A start within three years of 24 September 2026.
• Holiday use only. No new unit may be anyone's sole or main home, and the operator must keep a lettings register for the council.
• The leisure hub must stay ancillary to the holiday park and golf club.
• Vehicles use the existing Leamington Lane access only. No vehicular access from Coast View.
• Before work starts, the council must approve a scheme to widen and resurface Leamington Lane between the entrance and The Avenue, plus construction traffic controls. A delivery plan, including limits on lodge and caravan movements, is required before use.
• Drainage, landscaping and tree protection approved before commencement. New planting in the first season after occupation or completion, replaced for five years if it fails.
• Full-fibre broadband working before occupation.
• A noise check within three months of the leisure hub opening, with mitigation if needed. Fixed plant must stay within set limits against background noise, tighter overnight.

What owners might watch

Percy Wood trades as a Harrison Holidays park. For private owners, new facilities can support the park. Expansion can also put fresh stock next to older private caravans, busy up the lane, and reshape the golf that some pitches look onto.

• Licence. Holiday-only wording on the new units does not rewrite an existing agreement. Parks sometimes review rules when they grow. Check holiday use, subletting and any age limit on the van.
• Pitch fees. The appeal sets no fees for people already on site. A new hub can explain investment, and it can also be when charges are reviewed.
• Selling. New lodges compete with private resales. An older caravan can still sell, but timing, condition, and any first-refusal or buyer-approval clause matter more when the park is selling new stock.
• The course. Guests are offered 18 holes today. Reconfiguration is part of this consent, and the decision has no hole-by-hole plan. Ask what will remain if golf or a fairway view was part of the purchase.
• Works. Lane widening, construction traffic and deliveries are controlled, but they will be noticeable in Swarland. Owners who let a van may want to line that up with the season.

Woodland, the existing holiday park, and a legal agreement on coastal wildlife carried this appeal after traffic and flooding had been argued and not accepted.

If growth on your park, a licence clause or a fee change has you asking what a private static or lodge might be worth, you can take that slowly. A conversation is not a sale. Call Static Caravan Buyer on 0800 644 5000 or visit staticcaravanbuyer.com.

Key takeaways

• Inspector Chris Baxter allowed appeal 6010440 on 24 September 2026, after a site visit on 18 September.
• Up to 180 extra static caravans or lodges may go on seven northern golf holes at Percy Wood, with a leisure hub and a reconfigured course.
• He found no landscape conflict with Policy ECN 12 or the neighbourhood plan. Traffic and flooding did not defeat the appeal, but drainage and highway controls remain.
• Coastal mitigation and biodiversity monitoring are in a section 106 agreement. The sum is not in the decision.
• New units are holiday-use only. Access is from Leamington Lane, not Coast View, and work must start within three years.

Static Caravan Buyer Team