Tourist hotspot plan to allow more motorhomes

Portmeirion is owned by a charitable trust

A picturesque village has proposed allowing more motorhomes in a bid to deal with tourist demand.

While summer has always been busy in Portmeirion, Gwynedd, out-of-season holidays have become increasingly popular.

A planning proposal has been submitted for permission to raise the number of motorhomes allowed at Portmeirion from 23 to 28.

The application also asked to extend the time the motorhome site can open for.

The licence period runs from March 1 to October 31, with new plans for it to end on December 31 and re-start on February 1, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The tourist destination was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and the 1970s and is now owned by a charitable trust.

The Prisoner TV Show, a 1960's cult classic, was filmed at Portmeirion Village

Applicant Robin Llywelyn, managing director of Portmeirion Cyf, said the December food festival weekend and February half term had increased demand outside the usual months.

"The attraction of Portmeirion village is busy over the Christmas period and we are keen to extend the period to match this," he said.

Council planners said “it appeared the development was acceptable in terms of licensing”.

It was considered the proposal, in terms of scale and increase, and hidden nature of the site was considered "essentially acceptable", but a final decision is yet to be made.