Residents of beautiful hamlet say 60 ‘wrongly placed’ caravans have ruined their lives
The Local authority’s view is that there is no breach of planning control
Last updated 17th Mar 2026
Residents of a beautiful rural hamlet in Cornwall say the expansion of a holiday park is ruining their lives and they have questioned whether the placing of 60 static caravans directly overlooking their homes has breached planning rules.
People living in Luney Barton, which sits below Meadow Lakes Holiday Park, near the village of Hewas Water three miles from St Austell, believe the static caravans have been placed on the wrong part of the 56-acre site.
The family-run park features self-catering lodges, caravans and holiday home ownership options, plus amenities such as four fishing lakes, a heated outdoor swimming pool and multiple play areas.
Residents have fought a long battle with planning and enforcement at Cornwall Council over their view that the 60 static caravans have been placed on the wrong part of the site as originally agreed.
They believe they should be moved to what they deem is the correct part of the site dating back to a 1978 approval and are concerned nothing is being enforced.
Cornwall Council says extensive investigations have taken place and the local authority’s view is that there is no breach of planning control.
The holiday park’s managing director also maintains that the company has fully engaged with Cornwall Council during its investigations over the past two years and has done nothing wrong.
Luney Barton resident Lorraine Harvey, who, with husband Jeff, has led the fight on behalf of her neighbours, said of the static caravans: “They seemed to just appear – 44 got placed and then in January 2023 the diggers came back again, they took all the ancient hedgerows out on one side, took down some trees and put another 16 in.”
Ann Brian, who has lived in the hamlet for 29 years, said: “People walk into the field, see it and go ‘oh my God’. Before, it was just a field. People would come with touring caravans in the summer, but that’s not the same as having those properties sitting there.
“It has completely ruined this area – it was beautiful. They’ve destroyed it over there.”
Bruce Bryan, who has lived in Luney Barton for 32 years, added: “When I first came here, it was just a touring site, but it was pleasant with children playing and it wasn’t intrusive.
“It’s basically a bloody village over there now.”
He said the council was using a 1960s caravan act to permit the static caravans “but when you’re talking about two artic lorries turning up with two halves of a building, which physically have got to be bolted together and is on a concrete base, that’s not a caravan”.
Mr Bryan said: “They advertise ‘we’ve got beautiful scenic views looking across the valley’. If you go over there it does look amazing. But you come here and look over there, come on a minute…”
The residents say no one from Cornwall Council has visited their location to see firsthand what they are complaining about.
Mrs Harvey said that Meadow Lakes had planning application 07/00102 granted in 2007 for 70 timber faced lodges (static caravans) on the north / north eastern side of the holiday park, but they believe the caravans were wrongly placed on a part of the site closer to their homes as featured on an earlier plan.
“When we went over to see the operations manager he kept repeating he was working to old plans,” she told us. “The design plan I showed him was for the 07/00102 site but he agreed that the plan they were working to was on a site south/south west known as 4/04/78/01500 dating back to 1978.
“Seven times from mid January to mid March 2023 I stated this to enforcement who stated it was not relevant to the case of the statics placed on site now. But clearly it was. I repeated this same statement throughout the last three years, but was ignored.”
She added: “In planning law, the argument that a caravan is a caravan is often used by developers, but it is legally incomplete. The owners likely cannot simply swap 75 touring /tents for 60 statics.”
The residents argue that not only are the static caravans more akin to mobile homes rather than touring caravans and tents, they have been unlawfully placed in the field overlooking their homes and should be removed to the part of the site which they claim the original plans were for.
They also say that hedgerows and trees were cut down without permission.
A spokesperson for Cornwall Council told us: “Extensive investigations have been carried out relating to this site. These have concluded that the siting of the caravans in their current location do not amount to breach of planning control.”
Rachel Nation, managing director of Acorn Parks Ltd which purchased Meadow Lakes in 2009, said: “Regarding the development in question and the concerns raised we have fully engaged with Cornwall Council providing all information that they requested from us over a period of over two years.
“We have also engaged with Grampound with Creed Parish Council and held a meeting at Meadow Lakes with some councillors from this parish council and also St Ewe Parish Council chairman and other councillors.
“I have also held a meeting with Lorraine and Jeff Harvey at Meadow Lakes and explained details about the development.
“I don’t have any specific knowledge of a plan shown to Lorraine Harvey by an ex-member of staff over three years ago, but Meadow Lakes has a long and detailed planning history.”