Plans for reservoir holiday apartments rejected

Controversial plans to create new holiday apartments at Bewl Water reservoir have been refused by councillors.

The applicant, Bewl Events and Waterparks Ltd, hoped to convert the Boat House Bistro building and an adjacent fishing facility into 11 holiday lets at the reservoir, near Wadhurst in East Sussex.

Wealden District Council's committee unanimously turned down the proposal on the grounds it would harm the dark skies of the High Weald National Landscape.

Bewl Events and Waterparks Ltd said its proposals overcame reasons for a previous refusal and argued its new design features would limit any lighting impact.

The refusal was made on more narrow grounds than those advocated by objectors, who were worried about the impact on wildlife through noise and disturbance.

Ward councillor Johanna Howell said: "Bewl is a vitally important biodiversity site.

"It has been recommended for Special Protection Area (SPA) by Natural England and by the joint nature conservation committee. Defra is actively considering it."

She said winter was when such birds were most vulnerable, adding: "Year-round occupation, night time lighting and increased disturbance would be catastrophic."

The council received 153 letters of objection, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Howell said individual objections reached 1,000, while more than 80,000 signed an online petition opposing the plans.

Planning officers, who had recommended approval, said they had repeatedly asked Natural England whether there were plans to make Bewl Water an SPA.

They said they had not received an answer, adding that it had the ability to place interim protections on such sites, but had not done so.

As a result, the site could not be considered a potential SPA by the committee, officers said.

Officers also pointed out the scheme's similarities to a previous application considered by a planning inspector that was turned down in December 2023 and rejected at appeal stage in September 2024.

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