The season for the beachside Creek caravan site at Ringstead may be extended to 11 months of the year.

The 30-space Creek caravan site is currently limited to April to October but would like more time to help the local economy as more people seek to holiday at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Five residents to the west of the site along Fisher Place have said they are against the proposal.

Their letters say that if the site were allowed to open longer there would be nothing to stop caravan users staying for all but one month of the year – resulting, potentially, in 30 extra households in a hamlet of five homes for most of the year.

Other concerns involve the capacity of the sewage system, lack of public transport and lack of shops and other facilities – all resulting in the need for extra car travel.

Said one: “The winter months at Ringstead are usually very quiet, the people you see are mostly just ramblers and fishermen. Extending the season at the caravan park and allowing this planning application to go ahead would change the character of the place during the winter-time. It would be more busy and crowded, it’s one thing to have lots of people visit during the summer months and enjoy the beach, but during the winter months this would be a mistake and turn the bay into a year round tourist park. Also note that some of the larger caravan parks closer to Weymouth don't even open all year round so it seems odd to grant planning permission to a caravan park in a relatively more secluded and untouched park of the landscape….To extend residency would have a significant environmental and social impact on Ringstead as an area of unspoiled beauty and for the small existing permanent community that live there.”

Dorset Council’s area planning committee, which meets online this Thursday, is being recommended to agree a request to allow its use from February 9th to January 10th the following year.

The park is split over two levels with a front row of six caravans facing the beach at a lower level and the remainder of the site at the same level as the rest of Ringstead, which itself only has about 20 homes.

The site, to the east of the village, includes 30 static caravans, a residential chalet, a toilet block, office/sheds and bin store all on an area about the size of a standard football pitch.

There is parking for up to 30 cars to the north of the site with cars not allowed on site, other than for unloading and loading on arrival and departure.

Permission for the site was granted in December 1962 which dictated that it should be used for caravans only during the period 1st April to 31st October in each year.

The application to Dorset Council seeks to now remove that condition and allow 11-month occupation. Papers with the application say the extension would help meet the increasing customer demand for short breaks and holidays at any time of year and anticipate the potential increased demand for UK based holidays rather than going abroad following the coronvirus pandemic.

The application is also asking to remove a discrepancy in the 1962 planning permission which is granted for the stationing of 40 caravans, but at the same time, restricts the number of caravans to 30.

“This would not make any fundamental change to the permission and the nature of the development would be unchanged, being the use of the site for the stationing of caravans,” said an application letter.

The company say it is not proposing any changes to the site.

“The variation and removal of conditions suggested is supported by planning policy, would provide added security for the future of the business and boost the local economy by extending the season.  This would not change the character or appearance of the site or its impact on the surrounding countryside and landscape.  The application should therefore be approved,” said the application.