Fresh plans for Bewl Water holiday apartments

Proposals to create new holiday apartments at Bewl Water have been submitted to council planners for fresh consideration.

In an application validated by Wealden District Council last month, Bewl Events and Waterparks Ltd is seeking permission to convert its Boat House Bistro building and an adjacent fishing facility into 11 holiday lets.

The proposals would also see part of the existing bistro building set up as a shop and cafe, alongside the creation of a “flexible” meeting space for water sports clubs as well as shower and changing facilities.

In a statement submitted as part of the application, a spokesman for Bewl Events and Waterparks Ltd said: “Bewl Water is recognised as a valuable leisure, recreational, activity and training centre and is particularly popular drawing large numbers of ramblers, cyclists,
boaters and open water swimmers. It also provides activities for children and provides seasonal events.

“The provision of overnight tourist accommodation will be an attractive offer to those who wish to stay and experience Bewl Water for more than a day.

“This is entirely compatible with the quiet enjoyment of the rural surroundings and natural beauty of the High Weald and will generate economic benefits beyond the confines of the site into the local economy throughout the year.

“This will have a positive, albeit indirect, impact on the local economies of surrounding villages. The new café will also add to the offer that Bewl Water provides, creating an alternative destination to the existing café within the Visitor’s Centre.”

The application statement says the main bistro building is currently only used as an office and meeting space. They say its previous use as a restaurant ceased during the coronavirus pandemic and has not reopened.

The statement says the proposals are “very similar” to a previous application for the same building.

While it had been recommended for approval at the time, this previous application was turned down by a council planning committee in December 2023 due to concerns about its impact on “the character, tranquillity and dark skies of the High Weald National Landscape.”

The committee’s decision was challenged through an appeal, although this bid to overturn the refusal of planning permission was dismissed in September last year. In a decision notice at the time, a planning inspector said they were not satisfied that the development would “not materially harm the dark skies of the HWNL”.

But Bewl Events and Waterparks Ltd says its latest application overcomes these previous concerns.
In a statement submitted as part of the application, a spokesman for the company said: “This application responds directly to the inspector’s decision, with it now being supported by a detailed Lighting Impact Assessment.

“Vertical illuminance calculations that have been conducted for the proposed development show that with the proposed mitigation implemented, there will be neutral effect of light spill on the identified receptors.

“Views of the proposed development lighting have also been assessed. Any views of lighting, from both surrounding dwellings and from public rights of way, are limited and where they are available the proposed lighting will only make up a very small portion of the views with most of these views being in total darkness.”

The spokesman added: “As such, the effects of lighting from the proposed development are not considered to be significant.”

For further information on the proposals see application reference WD/2025/1539/MAJ on the Wealden District Council website.