Sustainable Eco Lodge Holiday Park Approved near Lincoln, Lincolnshire
A rural tourism case study demonstrating how thoughtful design, biodiversity gains and a strong planning strategy enabled approval for a new 14-lodge visitor accommodation destination.

Unlocking a complex rural site through a new Planning Strategy

When the landowner came to Fytche-Taylor Planning, they had already invested considerable time and effort into alternative schemes that hadn’t achieved approval. Looking for a fresh approach and genuinely innovative ideas, they turned to us for our track record in unlocking complex rural sites.

Instead of revisiting past proposals, we reset the strategy entirely - creating a clear, policy-led vision for a high-quality eco lodge park. The result was a strong, evidence-driven case that overcame all previous refusals and delivered a sustainable, landscape-enhancing rural tourism destination.

The Challenge

The site carried a difficult planning history, including refusals centred on sustainability, policy conflict and a lack of justification for earlier proposals. These repeated setbacks created understandable uncertainty for the client, who needed a solution that would both overcome past issues and secure long-term economic use of the land.

Our Approach

We undertook a full review of the site’s constraints, policy background and development potential. From this, we developed a new planning strategy that aligned with national and local priorities for rural tourism, economic diversification and environmentally responsible growth.

Key elements included:

  • Positioning the scheme as a genuine rural diversification project

  • Demonstrating clear economic and visitor-economy benefits

  • Designing a low-impact holiday park layout with strong environmental gains

  • Incorporating habitat creation and landscape improvements

  • Preparing a robust evidence base to reverse previous refusal reasons

Masterplan illustration of completed eco lodge park layout with lodges, ponds, woodland and pathways.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "We had invested a lot of time and money into earlier schemes that went nowhere. Fytche-Taylor Planning brought the fresh thinking we needed. They understood our vision straight away, explained the process clearly and handled everything with real professionalism. Thanks to them, we now have a fantastic design and full planning permission in place."

Finished eco lodge site with landscaped wildflower meadows, water features and rural tourism accommodation.
Modern timber-clad holiday lodges set around a large natural lake with enhanced biodiversity planting
Sustainable holiday park development featuring contemporary eco lodges overlooking wildlife-rich ponds.

The Proposal

Our team prepared and submitted a full planning application for a 14-unit eco lodge holiday park, featuring:

  • Modern eco lodges built using low-carbon construction principles

  • A sensitively designed site layout shaped around landscape character

  • New wildlife ponds and biodiversity enhancements

  • Comprehensive access, parking and supporting infrastructure

  • A sustainable year-round tourism offer

Outcome

The strength of the planning case, combined with a clear policy-led justification, enabled the application to succeed where earlier proposals had failed. Planning permission was granted, unlocking the site’s potential and providing the client with a sustainable, commercially viable holiday park that will deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits.

Services Provided

  • Planning strategy and project leadership

  • Site appraisal and policy review

  • Concept design input and lodge park layout

  • Planning statement and supporting technical documents

  • Biodiversity and landscape enhancement strategy

  • Application submission and ongoing liaison with the Local Planning Authority

We extend our gratitude to the tehnical consultants that collaborated with us on this project;

  • Visuals (CGI's) - Architectural Imaging Solutions

  • Flood Risk Assessment - R Lobley Consulting

  • Preliminary Ecological Appraisal and Biodiversity Baseline (BNG) - KJ Ecology

  • Agricultural Land Statement - Quays Agriculture

Photorealistic view of completed eco lodge park with lakes, landscaped planting and modern timber holiday lodges

Why the Client Chose Us

The client selected Fytche-Taylor Planning because of our proven ability to solve complex planning challenges and achieve results on sites with previous refusals. This project demonstrates our capacity to:

  • Turn around sites with a difficult planning history

  • Deliver commercially sound strategies for holiday park and lodge developments

  • Produce persuasive, well-evidenced applications that meet policy requirements

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