CONTROVERSIAL plans to lease out acres of Porthkerry park for ‘glamping’ have been dropped

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has decided to drop plans for parts of Porthkerry Country Park to be turned into site for “high-quality camping pods”.

And plans for a similar scheme at Cosmeston Lakes will need further detail before being taken any further following an announcement by the council’s cabinet.

The cabinet had approved the scheme but were met with public outcry against the plans after more than 2,000 people signed a petition to protect Porthkerry from the scheme.

The environment and regeneration scrutiny committee expressed its disapproval of the plans and sent it back to the cabinet following a call-in by Labour councillor Lis Burnett over fears of “creeping privatisation” of the land and leaving it off-limits to the public.

But Cllr Jonathan Bird, cabinet member for regeneration and planning, recommended the council change its plans following the concerns, which the cabinet accepted.

Councillor John Thomas, leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “It’s important to note there was a lot of public concern about the proposals in Porthkerry and cabinet have reacted in a suitable manner to halt these proposals.”

The council had previously said it was exploring commercial opportunities to make the parks more financially sustainable.

But critics questioned the lack of detail in the proposal such as how much money could be made from the changes and how widely publicised it had been before the original decision was made.

Plaid Cymru councillor Steffan Wiliam, who was part of the committee which sent the glamping plans back to cabinet, said: “I’m delighted because lots of local people and from further afield are glad Porthkerry can now maintain its natural beauty and not become something sanitised, synthetic and overdeveloped.

“It was a moronic proposal and utterly unnecessary. Overdeveloping Porthkerry Park would turn it into something people don’t want to visit.”