Holycombe Holistic Retreat Centre and Campsite is a vital, small business which models Rural Enterprise Planning Policy. It has been running successfully supporting both the local community and visitors for over 14 years, is threatened with immediate closure and, while we have the support of the vast majority of our local village, we also need your support. Please sign this petition to help save our widely loved family business from closure. We have only until 13th February to appeal.

Holycombe is (i) a holistic centre with holiday lets, and (ii) a tranquil, small scale glamping and camping site. We petition SDC to recognise that Holycombe is a low-impact business which complies very well with SDC's own planning policies on the need and criteria for such rural enterprises in villages.

We had already been awarded two lots of planning permission — both of which have been quashed by Judicial Review instigated by a tiny group of influential neighbours (perhaps three households). They succeeded in overturning the planning permission by challenging technical errors made by Stratford District Council (SDC), the most important of which was about their failure to take the impact of the campsite on the environment into account properly. This has subsequently been ruled in our favour by the Secretary of State for the Environment, but this won’t stop the process without your help.

Up until the end of 2016 SDC has supported us.  Sadly, they seem to have now buckled under the relentless pressure from these few objectors, who have now escalated and threatened further action against SDC themselves for failing to Enforce against us. It feels like, if you have the resources this is what you can do in Britain.

Despite our previous successful planning applications and the two new planning applications that are in progress, SDC has issued an Enforcement Notice to shut down both sides of the business at Holycombe. This will put us out of business immediately unless an appeal is lodged: cutting off all sources of income not only for supporting us, but also for fighting our case for planning. Our situation is critical.

We have responded decisively, point by point, to concerns that were made over five years ago (issues of noise from weddings in 2011 were dealt with immediately and no complaints have been received from the Environmental Health department since). We have also voluntarily put in place many conditions restricting the activity of our business, such as a noise curfew, restricted numbers and a minimum age limit for campers, no commercial weddings, no large groups, no amplified music, no dogs and the provision of a 24-hour complaints phone number.

When we bought the site in 1995 it was a car dump and a scrap yard. We have transformed it into an idyll, restoring the site so both people and wildlife can enjoy the Scheduled Ancient Monument of Whichford Castle.

As far as we can tell we have tackled and solved every operating problem they have identified. Sadly, none of our actions seem to have dented the resolve of a tiny number of people to stop us existing.

Why Holycombe matters

There are two distinct sides to Holycombe’s business: the holistic centre and the campsite. The holistic centre provides residential weekend courses and local classes for the benefit of all ages in activities such as yoga, pilates, music and dance. Additionally, it promotes well-being in the community hosting sessions in areas such as counselling, psychotherapy, acupuncture and reflexology led by independent therapists.

The campsite is a small scale, quiet glamping and camping site set on land of historical interest. In fact, we rescued the site from several decades as a scrap yard and spent six years carefully restoring the landscape with the assistance of English Heritage. 

We provide jobs for many part-time workers and three near-full-time workers. If the site is forced to close it will also affect jobs and the viability of The Norman Knight pub (they estimate we account for up to 50% of their summer trade), and cut down business for The Straw Kitchen café and Whichford Pottery who also benefit from Holycombe customers. We are therefore an exemplary manifestation of the local and national government policies on rural enterprises.

We have the support of the majority of our village but this is not enough.

We have until 13th Feb to appeal against the enforcement.

Please sign the petition so that we can encourage the council to approve our planning applications and withdraw the Enforcement Notice. Thank you so much.

If you are also willing, please write in support of our planning application to Stratford District Council:

●       via email to planning.applications@stratford-dc.gov.uk quoting 16/04039/FUL (planning application for the campsite)

●       or online here (under the Comment tab): https://apps.stratford.gov.uk/eplanning/AppDetail.aspx?appkey=OIA714PMIRR00

The Petition will be delivered to: The Senior Enforcement Officer, Stratford District Council, Elizabeth House, Stratford. CV37 6HX.