Plans for an 18-unit glamping development in Charlbury have been refused by West Oxfordshire District Council following concerns about biodiversity and alignment with local planning policy.
Spellbound Glamping submitted the proposal in November 2023, seeking a change of use for a four-hectare agricultural field at Watermead Farm on Spelsbury Road, north of Charlbury. The plans included glamping units, a café, a reception building, two toilet and shower blocks, a storage barn and parking areas.
The council’s planning committee issued its decision on November 17, unanimously rejecting the proposal. According to the council, the applicant did not provide adequate information demonstrating how the scheme would deliver biodiversity net gain, a requirement given additional emphasis due to the declared climate emergency.
A councillor report stated that while the proposal was “mainly acceptable” in terms of tourism benefits, scale and landscape impact, the submission fell short on biodiversity measures that planners considered essential.
According to This is Oxfordshire, a total of 48 objections were registered through the planning portal, including formal responses from CPRE (the Campaign to Protect Rural England) and the council’s ecology officer.
Friends of the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds argued in their submission that the woodland and nearby area “will be disrupted and harmed by its occupation as a glamping site.”
They said: “While it is important to encourage visitors and provide access to the National Landscape, this needs to be balanced against its conservation.” The group also questioned the need for an additional site given the existence of two nearby campsites outside Conservation Target Areas.
At the November 17 meeting, Graeme Widdows, representing Spellbound Glamping, told councillors the proposal addressed previous biodiversity concerns and that there were “no clear planning reasons to refuse” the development.
He said: “Our guests will come precisely because of the special landscape here in a way that supports the aims of the neighbourhood plan and the conservation target area.” He added that limited operations in 2021 showed “a clear demand for this type of low-impact nature-based stay” and noted that the project would “diversify the local tourism offer and bring additional spending to the business.”
Councillors, however, highlighted conflicts with the Charlbury Neighbourhood Plan and reiterated the need for robust biodiversity net gain evidence before approving development in sensitive areas.
Their unanimous vote to refuse the scheme follows a previously opened enforcement case relating to timber structures, storage containers and a hard-surfaced parking area on the woodland site, which was used for camping during 2021.
For professionals in the outdoor hospitality sector, the decision underscores the increasing scrutiny placed on biodiversity net gain documentation and alignment with local neighbourhood plans.
As councils continue to prioritise ecological outcomes, operators seeking new development permissions may need to provide more detailed environmental evidence early in the application process to avoid delays or refusals.