Extending a caravan or holiday park is one of the most common rural tourism applications. Councils generally support the principle, but highways officers, parish councils and neighbours tend to focus on the same handful of questions: how much extra traffic, what happens at the entrance when touring caravans arrive, whether the lane copes, and how static units and lodges get onto the site. Answering those questions early, with evidence from the park itself, usually decides how smoothly the application goes.
Start with what is there now
An expansion is judged against the park as it operates today. Pin down the baseline first:
- The number and mix of pitches allowed by the planning permission and the site licence
- Opening season and any holiday occupancy conditions
- Existing facilities, such as a shop, bar or pool, and who can use them
- Any extant permissions that have not yet been built out
Lawful but unused pitches can count towards the baseline. The fallback argument applies here as it does elsewhere, and can make a big difference to how the net change looks.
How much extra traffic?
Trip rates vary a lot between static caravans, lodges, touring pitches and motorhome stopovers, and national databases hold relatively few comparable holiday parks. The most persuasive evidence is often the park itself: counts at the entrance on a busy changeover day in season, set against the number of pitches occupied at the time.
The pattern matters as much as the total. Holiday parks are busiest on changeover days and in the school summer holidays, with arrivals spread through the afternoon rather than packed into the weekday commuter peaks. Showing when the extra trips happen, and what else is on the road at that time, is usually more useful than a single daily figure.
Touring caravans at the entrance
A car towing a caravan is long, slow to pull out and needs more room to turn than a car on its own. Officers will want to see that:
- Visibility at the junction suits the actual speed of traffic, not just the speed limit (see visibility splays)
- Swept paths work for car-and-caravan combinations and large motorhomes turning in and out from both directions
- Gates and barriers are set back far enough that a full outfit can wait clear of the road
- There is room inside the site for arrivals to pull in and wait while they check in
Queuing back onto the highway on a busy Friday afternoon is a common objection. A holding lane or lay-by inside the entrance, with reception positioned beyond it, often resolves it more convincingly than any amount of trip data.
The route to the park
Many parks are reached along lanes that were never built for towing traffic. The questions are the same as for other rural schemes, with longer and wider vehicles: lane width, passing places within sight of each other, tight bends, steep gradients and whether two outfits can pass. Recent appeals, such as Charlton Horethorne, show inspectors looking closely at whether a lane is genuinely usable, not just whether trips are low.
Practical measures include new or extended passing places, cutting back verges within the highway, and a signed preferred route with clear booking information so guests are not led down unsuitable roads by sat nav. Our note on holiday lets and glamping lanes covers these in more detail.
Getting static caravans and lodges onto the site
Static caravans and lodges arrive on low loaders, and twin units and larger lodges can be well over the width of a normal lorry. Some movements will be abnormal loads that the haulier must notify to the police and highway authorities, often through ESDAL. At planning stage, the council needs confidence that a workable delivery route exists:
- A route from the main road network that avoids weak bridges, low wires and pinch points
- Swept paths at the site access and on the internal roads for the delivery vehicle
- Any temporary measures, such as removing street furniture or using an escort
- Deliveries scheduled outside peak season and away from busy times of day
Internal roads, parking and servicing
The internal layout needs to work for the vehicles that will use it: towing outfits, delivery vehicles, refuse collection, gas deliveries and fire appliances. One-way loops often save space and avoid awkward reversing. The site licence standards also set expectations on road widths, emergency access and spacing between units, so it pays to check the layout against them at the same time.
Parking is usually provided beside each unit or pitch, with additional spaces at reception for arrivals, visitors and staff. Overflow parking for busy weekends keeps cars off the verges of the approach lane.
Facilities open to the public
A new clubhouse, restaurant, pool or shop can attract trips from outside the park, sometimes more than the extra pitches. Either assess that traffic properly or make clear, and be willing to accept a condition, that the facilities are mainly for guests.
Seasonality and when to survey
Traffic counts taken in a quiet month can understate both the park and the surrounding roads, especially on routes to the coast or national parks. Councils may ask for surveys in season, or for neutral month counts to be adjusted to reflect summer conditions. Agree the survey period and the assessment peak with the highway authority before commissioning traffic counts, so the evidence is not challenged later.
Sustainable travel
National policy supports sustainable rural tourism and accepts that most guests will arrive by car. Officers still expect to see what has been done to reduce trips once guests are on site:
- Safe walking links to the nearest village, beach or attraction, and to public rights of way
- Information on local bus services, and stops within reach where possible
- Cycle storage, bike or e-bike hire, and EV charging
- On larger parks, a shuttle service or a Travel Plan
Construction traffic
Groundworks, new internal roads and service runs bring HGVs to a lane that may already be busy in summer. A Construction Traffic Management Plan covering routes, delivery hours and phasing around the holiday season is often required by condition, and setting out the approach in the application avoids surprises.
What to submit
Most extensions need a Transport Statement; larger schemes, or those with significant new public facilities, may need a full Transport Assessment. A strong submission typically covers:
- The lawful baseline and the net change in pitches
- Trip generation based on surveys of the park or robust comparable sites
- Visibility and swept paths at the access for towing outfits and delivery vehicles
- An arrivals holding area and the position of reception
- The route to the site, with any passing places or improvements
- A delivery route for static units and lodges
- Internal layout, parking and servicing
- Sustainable travel measures and, where needed, a Travel Plan and CTMP
Highways refusals must meet the national tests on unacceptable safety impacts or severe residual cumulative impacts. For most well-planned expansions, the evidence shows they do not.
General information, not advice on a specific site. Policy and guidance correct as of October 2026.
