Buckland Ripers campsite extension approved despite complaints

Permission for the tent-only campsite in Buckland House Lane was granted in 2019

A rural campsite's season has been extended despite complaints about "disturbance, smells and noisy hairdryers" during the summer months.

Residents objected to a planned six-week extension for the campsite at Buckland Ripers, near Weymouth.

The site's owners denied there had been multiple complaints and maintained the site boosted the local economy.

Dorset Council said there was no planning grounds to reject the application and approved the extension.

The original permission for the tent-only campsite in Buckland House Lane was given in 2019.

A further application was made for a six-week extension for May and June 2022 to take advantage of the Whitsun break.

'Normal summer smell'

Campsite staff have claimed some of the residents persistently trespass on the site and some have been abusive, with someone flying a drone above the camp field, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a written objection, the Buckland Ripers Parochial Church Council said people staying at the site had "showed little regard for the area they were visiting".

Another resident said locals "resorted to living inside and closing our windows" while another complained that noise often continued until the early hours and that sound of hairdryers in the toilet blocks could be heard day and night.

Local councillor Jean Dunseith said: "The residents live with disturbance, noise and smells from July to August…they are alarmed this could be increased for all of the summer."

The site owners said the facility not only offered "peaceful holidays" for visitors but provided jobs and business for local shops, restaurants and pubs.

They said only one complaint had been made regarding a barbeque smell which the council's environmental health team took no action over as it was deemed a "normal summer smell".