Site Development Assessment Grove Farm, Blackwater Lane, Haydon, Norwich NR11 6RT

ADDITIONAL BROADLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL 11 June 2019 20190005 PLANNING CONTROL Site Development Assessment Grove Farm, Blackwater Lane, Haydon, Norwich NR11 6RT Produced by: Destination Research Ltd [email protected] www.destinationresearch.co.uk Phone: 01206 392528 Contents 1. Background 3 2. Supply 4 3. Need 6 4. Demand 9 5. Sustainability and Marketing 14 6. Relevant Policy 15 7. Conclusions 17 2 1. Introduction Destination Research was commissioned to undertake a Site Development Assessment for a farm diversification project to introduce four non-permanent ‘Canvas Lodge Tents’ to accommodate between six and eight persons each as well as a communal block with showers and accessible facilities, a store and an ‘honest shop’ for guests staying at the site. The accommodation requires no electricity or hot water. Light comes from candles and oil lamps in the accommodation, and cooking is done on a rustic wood stove internally. Each accommodation unit is provided with mattresses, a complete kitchen, flushing toilet. Dedicated parking is provided for the proposed use, using an existing access track connected to the highway along Blackwater Lane. This track will be improved and maintained to accommodate the expected increase in traffic associated with the intended camp site use, and an area will be provided for the parking and turning of up to 10 vehicles on the site, although it is anticipated through previous sites of this nature that this parking area will not reach capacity with visitors. The proposed new development would be run in conjunction with an international organisation (Feather Down Farm Days). The developers at Grove Farm would supply the camp site and some of the infrastructure (such as the access track and package treatment plant) and would also look after the visitors on a day to day basis. Feather Down would supply the accommodation and provide marketing and reservations/bookings. All bookings would be processed via a pre-booked system only, to ensure adequate control over the extent and sustainability of the business. As part of the Feather Down Farm Days, Grove Farm will be marketed online via social media and the featherdown.co.uk website which attracts a total of 1.5 million unique visitors per year. The nature of the area with its diverse range of leisure facilities and attractive rural environment means that the proposed accommodation is likely to attract a range of visitors, The developers plan to target young families with children under 12 years of age. Secondary target market will include older families with teenage children, couples and groups attending events and family gatherings. The site is eligible for quality assessment. The VisitEngland Glamping Scheme is designed to ensure that guests can book glamping accommodation with confidence, knowing that a certain standard of quality will be met. 3 2. Supply For the purpose of this assessment, the proposed development has been categorised as “camping and caravanning”. The supply analysis carried out reflects the existing camping and caravanning site on offer within a ten mile radius as the crow flies and in the context of all known accommodation within the county. An analysis of supply was carried out by using the latest accommodation audit of all known existing accommodation stock, produced by VisitEngland and published in August 2016 and our own research. We have identified five glamping sites within a 10-mile driving radius and a further seven further afield, towards the Norfolk coast. Overall, we have identified 52 caravan and camping sites within a 10 mile radius (see map overleaf), which are likely to differ significantly in style and quality to those offering ‘glamping’. These are often perceived as offering a higher quality style of tourist accommodation and a sense of novelty not available in traditional caravan and camping sites. As such, Grove Farm is likely to appeal to those seeking a slightly different experience, giving the developer a distinct identity compared to other local providers offering traditional camping facilities. Figure 1 – Glamping sites near Grove Farm Driving Business name distance Glamping details Opening times (Miles) Lazy Shaman Woodland 3.90 1 tipi and 1 yurt April To November Retreat Rosslyn Glamping 3.90 three huts Open All Year Amber's Bell Tent Camping 5.00 2 Bell Tents May To September 6 shepherds huts, 4 bell tents, Top Farm Campsite 8.10 Open All Year 6 Camping Cabins Swallowtails 9.50 5 yurts and 'Lotus Belle' tent July To November Our Garden Luxury Camping 10.10 4 Luxury tents May - September Round The Woods Yurts 10.50 2 Yurts April To September Deers Glade Caravan & Pods, Mega Pods, bell tents & 12.00 Open All Year Camping Park shepherd's hut Breck Farm Camping And 12.00 4 Bell tents or Shepherd’s hut April to October Caravanning Gorsey Meadow 12.60 5 Bell Tents April to October Park Farm Camping 13.10 3 luxury tents Open All Year Merryhill Country Park 13.20 5 camping Pods Open All Year Note: The table above shows driving distances and not ‘as the crow flies’ distances. 4 Figure 2 – Caravan, camping and glamping accommodation within 10 mile radius of Grove Farm There is a limited number of glamping sites in close proximity of grove Farm. Only Lazy Shaman Woodland Retreat, Rosslyn Glamping and Amber's Bell Tent Camping are located within a 5 mile drive-time and combined only offer a small number of glamping units. 3. Need Need is interpreted as the inability of current supply to meet demand and is usually measured by using occupancy level statistics. Caravan and Camping Occupancy data on tourism caravans is very limited. Most tourism caravan and camping occupancy surveys measure peak and shoulder season (April – October) occupancy. In general terms, weekends are particularly busy with many sites being fully booked, with weekdays being quieter, except for the summer school period. We have compiled a summary of results based on data from various parts of the UK for the last three years. The East region achieves a seasonal average pitch occupancy of 49%. Due to an absence of occupancy figures for Norfolk, it is not possible to compare regional occupancy levels with county level. Touring and static caravan occupancy rates in the South Downs show an average of 50% pitch occupancy Further afield, in Cumbria, touring pitches achieve an average occupancy (April to October) of 41%. Touring pitches in Wales have an average occupancy (April to October) of 42%. Data from Scotland suggests a slightly higher touring occupancy, at 46% annual average. Figure 3 shows the monthly trends for caravan and camping and highlights the seasonality trends affecting this type of accommodation. Figure 3 - Average Pitch occupancy 70% 59% 60% 52% 48% 50% 40% 43% 40% 30% 26% 25% 20% 10% 0% One of the advantages of the glamping offer is that, unlike with traditional camping, there is often the potential to operate year-round. For this reason, it is also worth taking into account occupancy levels for self-catering accommodation. It is estimated that self-catering 6 accommodation establishments in Norfolk achieved an average unit occupancy of 63% in 2016. The following (Figure 4) shows the annual average unit occupancy between 2009 and 2016. As the trend line clearly shows, self-catering unit occupancy has steadily increased over the past seven years. Figure 4 - Norfolk - Average Unit Occupancy 2009-2016 80 67 70 62 63 63 64 61 63 58 57 58 60 55 57 54 56 56 50 50 40 30 20 10 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Serviced - Room Self Catering - Unit Linear (Self Catering - Unit) Figure 5 - Self Catering Unit Occupancy - Norfolk (%) 100 89 89 89 90 81 80 75 80 87 63 88 70 81 76 78 79 60 49 50 49 50 42 40 31 56 45 Percentage 30 35 36 37 20 30 10 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2015 2016 Source: Visit England Figure 5 shows the monthly trends for self-catering accommodation in Norfolk and highlights the seasonality trends affecting the area. The 2016 unit occupancy rates for the main holiday season (May – October) were above 70% per month, reaching 89% between July and September. These high occupancy levels indicate that there is a need for more accommodation in the county over this period. 7 Unfortunately, due to the low quality and availability of occupancy data at local level we are unable to provide a fair assessment of the need to additional camping accommodation based on this information. As such we suggest this data should only be used as reference to show that the East of England appears to perform similarly to other places in England, Wales and Scotland. Instead, we recommend that an assessment of need for further accommodation is made by looking at changes in demand for bednights at local level. Broadland - Need Analysis Occupancy is a ‘supply side’ analysis and occupancy rates are calculated by taking the total number of bed nights spent in a given area and dividing that figure by the total bed space capacity for that same area. An alternative way of assessing ‘need’ for additional accommodation can be established by monitoring changes in demand for bednights (i.e. the number of nights spent in paid accommodation). At local level, Broadland has experienced steady increases in the number of nights spent in paid accommodation, up 15% between 2015 and 2017, compared to smaller increase (7%) in Norfolk as a whole. Figure 6 – Annual bed nights 2015 2016 2017 Broadland 833,000 854,000 956,000 Norfolk 12,140,000 12,339,000 12,934,000 Source: Visit England – GBTS Survey, Cambridge Model data from Destination Research Figure 7 - Increase in number of nights in paid accommodation 120% 115% 115% 110% 103% 105% 100% 107% 100% 102% 95% 90% 85% 80% 2015 2016 2017 Broadland Norfolk We should assume that some of this additional demand will have been supplied by new accommodation establishments opening in the area during this period.

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