Fresh hold-up for £32m Hamsterley Forest plans

The Environment Agency has reiterated its objection to a £32million tourism development at Hamsterley Forest.

Forestry England is proposing a new visitor centre, 70 holiday cabins with hot tubs, a tree top adventure course and a bunkhouse with camping facilities.

Although the original planning application was submitted in October 2024 it wasn’t until the end of March that long awaited additional information was submitted to support the proposal.

However, the Environment Agency say some of the information submitted is flawed and outdated.

Planning specialist for the agency Cameron Chandler said in a report: “We have reviewed the additional information provided and wish to maintain our objections from our letter dated December 20, 2024”.

He recommended the planning application be refused.

The agency objected on the grounds of inadequacies in the flood risk assessment and the risk to crucial waterways and protected species.

Mr Cameron added that the use of non-mains foul drainage systems poses “an unacceptable risk of pollution to the water environment”.

He worried specifically about the risk to Euden Beck and Bedburn Beck and the impact on water voles and otters.

The planning specialist was, however, satisfied there was no risk to great crested newts found in one of the forest ponds.

He noted that updated surveys for water vole and otter are required because the existing ones date back to October 2024.

He complained that Forestry England had not provided information that took into consideration when overnight accommodation is at maximum capacity.

Mr Cameron wrote: “The assessment does not demonstrate a coherent balance between [water] abstraction, consumption and discharge.

“Particularly, under peak loading scenarios, this results in an inconsistent water balance, with likely underestimation of water abstraction requirements and sewage effluent discharge volumes.”

The forest also does not have a mains water supply and the development would have to rely on water abstracted from boreholes.

Mr Cameron advised that Forestry England would have to have a licence from the Environment Agency to create new boreholes.

He added: “There is no guarantee that a licence will be granted as this is dependent on available water resources and existing protected rights.”

Mr Cameron provided a number of ways Forestry England could overcome the agency’s objections.

A number of groups have also reiterated previous objections, including parish councils in Hamsterley, Winston and South Bedburn, the Woodland Trust and Hamsterley Forest Action Group. In addition to

having objections similar to the Environment Agency, other groups have complained about a lack of public transport to the forest and believe the existing road network will not cope with the additional traffic.

While Natural England had no objection, it wrote: “A lack of objection does not mean that there are no significant environmental impacts.”

Visit County Durham reiterated its support for the scheme saying that while overnight visitors only account for eight per cent of the area’s tourists, it accounts for half of the visitor spend.