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Caravan park's bid for longer season
BOSSES at a £500,000 caravan park are looking to extend its opening hours following a successful first few months.
Ashfield Caravan Park, in Dalton Back Lane, Dalton Piercy, Hartlepool, is the brainchild of town couple Mark Ashton, 43, and wife Andrea, 39.
The site, which opened earlier this year, currently has permission to be open between March and October.
Now the pair have applied to planning officers at Hartlepool Borough Council to extend the time they are open from April 1 until January 31.
The couple, who have two children, Thomas, 19, and 17-year-old Samantha, believe the caravan park will boost the number of tourists coming to Hartlepool.
Mark said: "It has been an absolutely unbelievable first few months and we are all delighted with the way it has gone.
"We were packed out with touring caravans over the summer and we were expecting it to be quieter during the autumn months.
"But we have been inundated with contractors looking for a place to stay.
"The council have allowed us to stay open until the application goes before the planning committee."
There are currently around 14 contractors, who are working at the power station and Able UK's Teesport site, staying at the caravan park. Mark added: "We stumbled on a niche market with the contract workers, because we didn't fully realise the demand before we opened.
"That is the main reason for the application to extend the opening hours but our priority is for Ashfield to be a top quality, five-star touring caravan site."
In order to achieve that the family will be pumping a further 30,000 into the site to improve the roads and instal new swings and play area.
Since the site opened in March this year there have been no complaints about noise or disturbance, and tourism bosses believe extended hours would be a positive move.
Planning papers state: "The council's tourism officer has assessed the proposal and has no objection, particularly as it will extend the visitor season to Hartlepool and therefore the visitor economy at a potentially quieter period."
Dalton Piercy Parish Council questioned the commercial viability of it staying open during the winter, and also raised queries about the clubhouse being used as a pub for people not staying at the site.
However, council officers and the police have visited the site and found no evidence to support the claim.
The application will be discussed at the next planning committee meeting on Wednesday, December 17.
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Weather for Hartlepool
Sunday 12 February 2012
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