PLANS for a new holiday village on a former salvage yard has been given the go-ahead by a planning inspector following an appeal hearing.

Blueprints for up to 24 caravans and lodges were put forward by Michael Beamish for the former East Coast Salvage vehicle reprocessing site in Cockett Wick Lane.

The plans were refused by Tendring Council’s planning committee in November 2017 due to concerns over safety with part of the site being on the most high risk category of flood plain.

Councillors were concerned the proposal lacked any facilities and did not add to the district’s tourism offer.

Planning agent Michael McGarr had said the creation of a holiday village would offer a far better and more congenial use than a vehicle dismantling site.

The plans were seen as a chance to make environmental improvements to the site and any contamination from the previous use would have been dealt with as part of the scheme.

Following an appeal hearing, an independent planning inspector has ruled the holiday village can go ahead.

A spokesman for Tendring Council said: “The inspector found that because the holiday units would be on the lower risk areas, and the site was subject to flood mitigation, the risk was outweighed by the benefits of bringing the site into use and associated environmental improvements.

“With regard to facilities the inspector said that not only could these be added in at the detailed planning application stage, the site was close enough to St Osyth village to benefit from facilities there.”

The inspector imposed a condition on the site that the units could only be used for holiday homes, and not as anyone’s main address.