The formal agreement for a longer camping season at Eweleaze Farm, Osmington has been signed off by Dorset Council.

The consent, which dates back to a decision at a planning meeting in July, is subject to conditions about access to the site and the management of the area.

It allows for camping for up to 42 days ending on the late August bank holiday Monday, subject to the site operator meeting a number of conditions.

These include an improved access off the main road and management plans being agreed with council officers for traffic flows, biodoversity and waste and waste water management, all to be completed before the start of the coming season.

The conditions applies to tents only, no motorhomes or caravans being allowed.

Until the July decision the site has been limited to a ‘temporary’ use of 28 days each year, although during the peak Covid period, Government legislation doubled that.

The longer 42-day consent, said site owner Peter Broatch, will help support eight full-time and 118 part-time jobs.

The proposal attracted dozens of letters both for and against, including from Weymouth Civic Society, which said the extended use close to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Jurassic Coast World Heritage site would be “totally inappropriate in this open rural landscape of such important scenic value.”

Said chairman of the society’s planning and environment committee, Pauline Crump: “We see no justification at all for extending it (28 days) on a regular basis. It is our considered view that the widespread use of this large expanse of land for camping for any greater length of time than the normal allowance would be highly damaging to this immediate area and set an undesirable precedent for the whole coast.”

Similar views were expressed by Osmington Parish Council and many of the objectors.

Those in favour, mostly living outside the area, wrote to tell Dorset Council of how well run the site is, allowing families to have a relatively inexpensive holiday in a beautiful area, bringing income to businesses in the area.

Documents with the application suggest that in 2021 the site had more than 800 visitors, which Mr Broatch said are likely to each spend £15-£20 per day, although many objectors dispute the figures, some claiming the local economy sees little benefit as on-site facilities encourage visitors to stay at the farm.

Among the key conditions to the 42-day consent is improvements to the road access along a track off the main road designed to ease the flow of vehicles into and out of the site without creating queues.

A planning consultant, acting for Mr Broatch, claimed that the extra two weeks will help meet demand with the longer use only having a limited impact on the landscape, possibly lessening the number of visitors in the high summer peak period, effectively spreading the same numer out over a longer period.

Farm buildings on the site are used as shops and a restaurant during the camping season with the site providing composting toilets, solar showers, a laundry service and cycle hire – all of which are cleared away at the end of the season.

Owermoigne councillor Nick Ireland says the conditions should largely address local concerns about the site, given that the law allows 28-day camping: "My opinion from the planning committee, which is of course a matter of record, is that ...by imposing the conditions accompanying the approval, which would apply to the entire six weeks, these mostly address the concerns a minority of locals have with the established 28 day operation which they can do nothing about i.e. it imposes conditions which heretofore didn't and couldn't exist."