Causeway Coast and Glens Council approves four-star glamping site for Cushendall

The proposed site would include up to six pods, a parking area for six vehicles and associated landscaping on Middlepark Road in Cushendall.

According to the Design and Access Statement, prepared by Rural Escapes Ireland in association with Revelins Hill Design, each pod incorporates a living space, doubling up as the main bedroom with a sofa bed, a small kitchenette and a bathroom.

Pods can host two adults and two children.

The statement adds: “The style of the pods and the landscaping draws on the best of local materials and traditions with the use of local stone and gravel. The finishes in metal cladding and the scale and massing of the pods echo the dispersed rural settlement pattern of the glens. The use of metal cladding and the curvilinear roof form evocative of agricultural forms prevalent in the rural area.”

According to the statement, the development will have “low impact” as “there are no close critical views into the site”, with the exception of from the approach on the A2 Garron Road which is 2.9km away.

It continues: “It is also pointed out that there is existing significant development in the immediate area with two large telecommunications masts at the foot of the field and associated buildings and an existing farm grouping in the adjacent field. This existing development is more visible than the proposed development.”

The statement stresses that the “overall design and layout of the site are of a high quality”, while the location of the site within 10 minutes walk of the beach and of the towns of Waterfoot and Cushendall is “strategically placed”.

It adds: “The low impact nature of the development, with no new roads, no new access and little requirement for additional planting for integration affords a rare opportunity for a low impact development with no large-scale intervention.

“As such the development will not detract from the character of the landscape – there will be no impact on third party amenity, nor any impact on the natural or built environment.

“The application therefore accords with all the provisions of the relevant planning policies, area plan and development strategies.”