Four glamping pods at Approximately 150m North East of No.15 Clontafleece Road, Warrenpoint

What was proposed

The application sought four two-bedroom glamping pods, associated site works, landscaping and ten parking spaces.

“The proposal seeks full planning permission for the erection of 4 No. 2 bedroom glamping pods with a height of 4.3m above finished floor level (FFL) and associated site works including landscaping and 10 no. parking spaces, as shown in the below site layout.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site is an agricultural field in rural countryside within the Mournes Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, near dwellings and agricultural buildings.

“The application site is located on the Clontafleece Road Burren approx. 35 meters east of No.10c Clontafleece Road which is currently under construction. The site itself which is located within the rural countryside outside any development limit as designated under the Banbridge, Newry and Mourne Area Plan 2015 (BNMP 2015) with the nearest settlement of Burren located approx. 1km from the site. The area is of typical rural character and predominately agricultural use.”

“The application site consists of an agricultural field which slopes gently from its highest point in the north eastern corner to its lowest in the south western corner. As mentioned above the site is adjacent to No.10c which is currently under construction. An existing access is currently constructed to serve the dwelling under construction which separates it from the application site.”

Officer report

Earlier applications

Earlier proposals included a refused holiday cottage application, an approved replacement dwelling and an invalid glamping-pod application.

“Application Number: P/2005/1050 Proposal: Site for holiday cottage Decision: Invalid - Application Returned Decision Date: June 2005”

“Application Number: P/2005/2105/F Proposal: Erection of holiday cottage Decision: Permission Refused Decision Date: August 2006”

Officer report

Consultation responses

Statutory consultees raised no objections, with some responses subject to conditions, while ten letters supported the application.

“Northern Ireland Water- No objections standard conditions. • DFI Roads- No objections. • Historic Environment Division- No objections. • Northern Ireland Environment Agency- Water Management Unit (WMU) & Natural Environment Division (NED)- WMU have no objections with conditions. • Environmental Health- No objections.”

“One neighbouring property was notified as part of the neighbour notification process, the application was also advertised in the Newry Reporter on the 20 th November 2025. As noted above 10 letters of support were received in respect of this planning application.”

Officer report

Who spoke

The agent spoke in support with the applicant, saying revised plans addressed earlier concerns and complied with planning policy.

Committee discussion

Members discussed the site’s elevation, visibility, hedging, ribbon development and whether the revised layout and natural boundaries addressed integration concerns.

“Councillor D Murphy queried the refusal reasons relating to ribbon development and integration as he believed the pods were located some distance from the road and the images had shown a large hedge that would help with integration.”

“Councillor McAteer proposed to overturn the recommendation to an approval for the following reasons: - He believed that the application was compliant with CTY1 as the tourism gain from the development should allow the development to be sited within the countryside. - The site was compliant with TSM6 as there would be no adverse impact on the local area, utilising existing natural boundaries and the design features would help integration concerns.”

Minutes

The final decision

The committee agreed to approve the application contrary to the officer recommendation, citing tourism, integration, design, rural character and AONB considerations.

“AGREED: On the proposal of Councillor McAteer, seconded by Councillor S Murphy, it was agreed to issue an approval in respect of planning application LA07/2024/1386/F contrary to officer recommendation as contained in the Case Officer Report.”

Minutes