Fresh hope for Welsh rural economy

FARMERS and landowners running pop-up campsites in Wales may be able to open longer next year as a change in planning law takes a step closer.

Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Energy and Planning, has confirmed in a letter to the Chair of the Petitions Committee that the Welsh government is ‘progressing work’ to bring Permitted Development Rights in line with England.

Currently in Wales, a temporary campsite can be run for 28 days per year under Permitted Development Rights without the landowner or tenant needing to apply for further planning permission.

But as of July, 2023, England extended this to 60 days to support the ongoing popularity of the staycation and bolster the rural economy.

Since then, the Welsh government has come under increasing pressure to follow suit as farmers and landowners lose out to their English counterparts, but until now has resisted such calls.

However, news of the potential change – which could be introduced in time for the summer camping season next year – has been welcomed by farmers, landowners, and other industry groups.

Dan Yates, founder of Pitchup.com, said the move would have a hugely positive impact on Wales’s rural economy.

Pitchup.com has been lobbying the Welsh assembly for the change since 2021, when the government first consulted on the issue**.

Dan said: “Permitted Development Rights for camping were first extended during COVID to help rural communities recover from the pandemic, but they reverted to 28 days in 2022.

“However, on seeing how successful the move had been, both the Westminster government and the Welsh assembly ran consultations on implementing the change permanently.

“A permanent extension to 60 days was enacted in England quickly, but the Welsh government remained very tight lipped on the outcome of their consultation.

“They also resisted pressure from farmers and landowners, believing the discrepancy in regulations to be unfair, to follow suit.

“But at long last, this latest development does seem to offer some hope to Wales’s agritourism sector. We’re delighted to learn that the Welsh government is now taking the issue seriously and is working towards a workable solution.”

In the correspondence, dated September 23, 2024, Rebecca Evans states that the Department for Economy, Energy and Planning was planning to issue a second consultation paper on Permitted Development Rights in the autumn.

Any proposed legislation would then need to be scrutinised by the Senedd, the letter says, but could be in place for the start of the 2025 summer camping season.

Dan Yates added: “In England, the change was immediately implemented without a second consultation to enable English farmers and landowners to benefit at the earliest possible opportunity, and to ensure plenty of camping pitches were available to holidaymakers.

“The Welsh government has yet to officially announce the result of their first consultation, which ended nearly three years ago. 

“Why such a relatively simple procedure has taken so long in Wales is anyone’s guess, but hopefully it will move a bit faster now and the government will be as good as its word and permanently extend Permitted Development in time for next year.”

One Welsh farming family who would welcome the change is Emma and Edwin Jones, of Nant Madyn farm, Llanegryn, near Tywyn, on the west coast of the country. 

Emma and Edwin, who started a campsite during the COVID pandemic under extended Permitted Development Rights, have been struggling to make it work since it reverted to 28 days.

Emma said they were now at a ‘crossroads’ and may have to give up on the vital diversification project.

She said: “The 28 days does hamper us. I work as a farm advisor and don’t have the time to do the camping full time, but it is still a very important source of income.”

The problem has arisen because the couple hire portaloos for camping guests on their remote but beautiful hill farm in the Snowdonia National Park.

Portaloos are considered a ‘moveable structure’ and as such, when the campsite is open, even if no one turns up, the time is still deducted from the 28-day allowance.

Emma said: “If they moved it to 56 or 60 days as they have in England, it would give the option to do a week in Easter, May Bank Holiday, open for a few more days in the summer holidays and possibly even at October half term too. It would make a huge difference.

“Incomes are tight and we’re told to diversify and that means trying to find ways to start something off from a low cost base. That’s hard enough as it is, so it’s frustrating that we’re being restricted in what we can do.”

Emma and Edwin run 600 Welsh Mountain ewes and a suckler herd of Welsh Black and Luing cattle on improved pasture and hill land.

The remote farm is about a mile from the main road and offers visitors spectacular views of the hills of south Snowdonian and the Cambrian coast.

The couple has space for around 25 pitches, which sit alongside an outdoor shower and hired portaloos, and they market the campsite through popular booking platform Pitchup.com.

Emma said she welcomed the announcement that Permitted Development might be extended next year, and that it could not happen too soon.

“We simply can’t make it work with just the 28 days,” she said.

“We are at a crossroads. But if they can sort this out in time for next year, that might be our saving grace.”