Barmby Moor tourism park and petting zoo plan turned down

As The Press previously reported, the scheme was being spearheaded by a family-firm which has a 17-year-old director Monty Low, who was appointed last June, and 50-year-old Wayne Paul Low as a second director.

Earmarked for a site adjacent near village of Barmby Moor, near Pocklington, the site had planned to create more than 60 permanent jobs and provide a multi-million pound annual boost to the area’s local economy.

But East Riding of Yorkshire Council has refused planning permission saying the proposal involves a significant amount of new development and buildings in the open countryside.

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They say: "The development would not support an existing attraction and does not have a functional need to be located in the countryside, furthermore it would not utilise existing buildings or represent a farm diversification scheme.

"It would also permanently erode the open rural character of the site and would not respect the intrinsic character if the site's rural surroundings. The proposal would therefore represent an inappropriate encroachment into the countryside."

Set on 6.6 hectares of low-grade agricultural land adjacent to Back Lane and the A1079, the park planned to house 95 holiday lodges, a reception building, shop, café, a petting zoo, and two large lakes.

The Beverley-based company behind the project – Montgomery Holdings Yorkshire Ltd – say they have extensive experience in the UK leisure industry.

Company records report family involvement in other ventures.

And Monty Low said previously: “The park will be one of the most modern of its kind in the North and will be developed in such a way that it becomes an integral part of the local community, sympathetic to the local landscape, the local environment and wildlife.

“Screening will be put in place along the western boundary of the site and once completed there will still be a significant buffer of greenfield land between the village and the Pocklington Industrial Estate.

“The scheme, by its very presence, will eliminate any chance of residential development of the site in future years and all traffic will have easy access to the A1079, reducing any major impact on village routes.”

But planners said: "The site is in a prominent edge of village location which is relatively flat and open and is visible from the approach from both the north and the south on the A1079 and from Back Lane.

"The open character rural character of the site forms an important role in maintaining the separation between Barmby Moor and Pocklington and preventing settlement coalescence.

"The proposal would introduce an alien and dominant feature which would be out of character with its rural surroundings. It would be a prominent feature in the landscape, particularly when viewed from the A1079 and from Back Lane, due to the flat and open nature of the site and the height and scale of the development. It would be completely change the open character of the site."