This caravan park proposal in Bellbrae required a detailed caravan park planning permit, not because the use was unusual, but because the site itself asked a lot of questions. From the outset, it was clear this was a place where the layout needed to work with the land rather than against it, a process supported through integrated town planning and design services.
Strong planning permit drawings were essential here. The planning permit designs, prepared as part of a coordinated town planning and design response, showed a simple, legible layout: cabins grouped around shared open space, slow internal circulation, and visitor car parking located near the entry so cars didn’t dominate the heart of the park. These drawings helped council picture how the site would operate on a busy weekend, not just how it looked on paper.
The planning permit application also addressed native vegetation removal, which was a defining feature of the site. The approach wasn’t to clear and rebuild, but to work around existing trees where possible and use open lawn areas to limit impacts, an outcome that emerged through careful alignment between planning strategy and site design. That decision shaped the final layout and gave council comfort that the character of the land was being respected.
The site sits alongside a Transport Zone 2 road, which triggered permits for constructing buildings within 100 metres of a Transport Zone 2 and for creating access to a road in a Transport Zone 2. It is also close to an existing dwelling not in the same ownership. These controls tend to make councils cautious, particularly where group accommodation is involved, as they want confidence about noise, traffic and how people will actually move through the site.
As planning permit consultants providing town planning and design services, our role was to bring these elements together into a coherent story council could trust. Approval was granted for the use of land for group accommodation, associated buildings and works, road access, and vegetation impacts.
For anyone considering a caravan park planning permit on a constrained site, this project is a reminder that good planning is often about restraint as much as design. If your proposal raises similar issues, an early review by a planning permit consultant can help set a clearer path forward.
