Former chicken farm to become holiday park with 90 lodges under new plans

Plans to turn a former chicken farm into a holiday park with 90 lodges have been submitted to Harborough District Council. The lakeside holiday homes have been planned on land known as Langborrow Farm, on Launde Road, one and a half miles to the east of Tilton on the Hill.

Launde Road links the site with Launde Abbey, which is just under two miles southeast of the site. Developer Brayden James Developments Ltd has submitted the application, with entrance to the site via Oakham Road.

Alongside the lodges, there would also be a bike rental and welcome/reception building, a café and restaurant and a health and fitness centre with tennis courts. Proposals also include a gym and spa, with a swimming pool. Each lodge would have its own decking area, and would be arranged around lakes. A residential gatehouse and staff accommodation are also included in the plans.

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Developers said the welcome building would be at the heart of the site which would include a one hundred space car park. The sports and leisure ‘barn’ would make use of an existing chicken shed, whilst the purpose-built gym and spa would also be accessed from the proposed car park, they added.

Plans state the lodges will be "carefully nestled into the hillside". Separated from the other buildings, the lodges would be a place for "visitors to retreat away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life". There would be narrow but accessible paths and tracks across the site, providing opportunities to explore, they said. Cycle hire would be available for visitors to explore more of the surrounding countryside.

Plans state that on arrival, visitors would leave their vehicles in the visitor car park and only access their lodge on foot during their stay. Seating, sculptures and play opportunities are also included in the plans, encouraging holidaymakers to actively explore on and off site. The café and restaurant would be built in place of an existing chicken shed.

The existing woodland would be incorporated into the plans. The cafe and restaurant would have an additional small car park for local people wanting to visit and cycle parking near to the entrance would be available.

Planning documents state the lodges would range in size from one bed to three bed detached cabins, no more than six metres high. They said they would be dark in colour to blend with the woodland, with paths connecting the lodges with the welcome building. Plans state that the new lodges would be built within the existing woodland, with poor quality or diseased trees felled to make space for the lodges.

Proposals note there would be ten full time and five part time staff employed on the site. Consultations on the plans close on Thursday, May 9. A final decision on the proposals is due to be made on Wednesday, June 26.