Fenland nursery bares all
23 January 2007
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| Parklands country park at Four Gotes |
NAKED volleyball, naked table tennis and a stroll through the grounds, naked of course, have reversed the fortunes of a Fenland nursery.
Parklands country park at Four Gotes near Wisbech has also won the seal of approval from Fenland Council - even though officers say they only discovered recently the site was being used by naturists.
"Having reviewed the situation, I can no reason why the council should request an application for change of use of a leisure park to a naturist park," said planning officer Chris Peckett.
He told Malcolm Moss, the MP for NE Cambs, that when Philip Selby applied five years ago to turn Juniper Nurseries in Sutton Road, Four Gotes, to use the site for touring caravans and tents the council had no idea it was intended for naturists.
"The case officer whom dealt with the application is no longer at the authority, but it appears from the consultation responses and committee report that the authority was unaware that a naturist park was to be established," said Mr Peckett.
Later changes of use to extend and improve the park meant the council did become aware of its use.
"The issue is in the planning description, in essence the park does provide a leisure facility for its users, and thus it is difficult to argue that the description of the site as a leisure park is incorrect," said Mr Peckett.
One neighbour said the issue of privacy at the four acre site had been partially resolved by the recent addition of a 400 foot long, six foot tall fence.
"I think if we had been told at the beginning what was intended, then I don't think planning permission would have been given," he said. "I think it was using the term leisure a bit too loosely."
The neighbour added: "Personally I'm not too bothered by the naturist camp. My father in law was a bit perturbed, however, when he saw this naked bloke being chased by a woman with a stick.
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