A cliff-top holiday park that featured in TV’s Broadchurch has upset locals who fear the building of luxury lodges could destabilise the fragile Jurassic coast.
Work is already underway on the 12 holiday lodges that will be worth up to £725,000 each at Eype Cliff near West Bay, Dorset.
The site has previously been used for tent and motorhome pitches.
Objectors say the ‘eyesore’ development will threaten the stability of the delicate cliff which forms part of the Unesco World Heritage Site and is prone to coastal erosion.
The six-acre plot was a filming location for ITV drama Broadchurch, that has recently had a resurgence after being added to Netlfix. The beach chalet where Danny Latimer was murdered in the first series is nearby and is in danger of disappearing off the edge soon.
Campaign group Eype Environment Protection claim the owners of the park are changing what was a low-impact seasonal campsite into a ‘high-density holiday village’ with the permanent year-round lodges.
A petition calling for a public consultation and a change to ‘outdated planning’ that allows developments like this to go ahead has so far got 1,800 signatures.
The village of Eype is full of thatched cottages and there is just a single track road approaching the beach.
A spokesperson for Eype Environment Protection (EEP) said: “The owners promise guests the ‘rugged allure’ and ‘untamed nature’ of Eype – conversely this development will clearly have a negative impact on the landscape, on village life, on nature and on our dark skies.
“The prominent site sits only yards from the South West Coast Path, in an area where cliff-falls are a frequent occurrence. Is this fragile cliff-top the right place for a housing development?
“Our petition expresses anger and concern about the eye-sore development and how it threatens to damage the fragile landscapes of West Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
“How has this been allowed to go unchallenged?”
In 2022 West Dorset Leisure Holidays, which owns the site, was granted a certificate of lawfulness from the local authority for having 35 static caravans and 31 camping pitches which had been established for more than a decade.
Because the certificate established the caravans had been sited year-round the company has been able to start building the lodges under permitted development rights.
The spokesperson for EEP said: “We believe it sets a dangerous precedent.
“The development has been allowed without any public consultation – despite the scale of its impact on a place that is protected at the highest level.
“The site is set within an AONB, on the Jurassic Coast (a World Heritage site). What is the point of these protective designations, if developments like this are allowed to go ahead?
The company’s advert describes the new lodges as ‘rare opportunity to own a premium lodge in one of the most sought-after locations on the Dorset coastline.’
The first one is now up for sale at £644,995.
The two-bedroom lodge is 50ft by 20ft with an open plan kitchen and living area, a master en suite bedroom, family bathroom with a jet bathtub and two-person infra-red sauna.
It also has a large wrap-around deck.
The advert says the season length is ten and a half months, the licence lasts until 2060 and the pitch fee will be £7,999.
A spokesperson for West Dorset Leisure Holidays said: “The description and details provided by the [EEP] group is misleading.
“A number of Lawful Development Certificates were granted by Dorset Council in 2022 which sought to utilise the existing planning permissions obtained across the site and therefore, did not need any consultation nor planning applications to come forward.
“As a company we have started the development with the first lodge being available for purchase now.
“Over the coming years, we will be continuing with our planting and landscaping schemes at Thorncombe Heights, and the high-quality caravan lodges will be available to purchase from spring 2026.
“As a local family and business embedded in West Dorset, we are pleased to undertake such a high-quality development.
“West Dorset Leisure Holidays strives to maintain the environment our business is operating in and is involved in many schemes including rewilding projects, woodland planting, footpath management.
“We have raised over £110,000 for local Jurassic Coast projects.
“In our view, the lodges at Eype will not have a negative impact and we look forward to welcoming existing and future visitors to Eype Beach. “
A Dorset Council spokesperson confirmed there is no open enforcement case related to the holiday park.
They said: “We issued a certificate of lawfulness in 2022 for 35 permanently sited static caravans and for 36 camping and motorhome pitches for holiday use.
“A further certificate was issued in 2022 to confirm the site could operate for those numbers throughout the year and without restriction on the layout of pitches.”
