Councillors have claimed that too many touring caravans sites are being set up in rural Gwynedd, raising fears they are having a detrimental impact on the natural beauty of the county’s coastal areas.

Members of the council’s Communities Scrutiny Committee scrutinised the draft Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Cllr Dafydd Meurig, the outgoing Cabinet holder for planning, told the meeting the issue dated back almost 18 months after members pointed to the growing number of touring caravan sites within the county, with Anglesey and Gwynedd councils set to adopt a new version of the SPG.

The document itself covers touring caravans, motorhomes, campervans and tents, with applicants needing to provide evidence that such accommodation will not add to servicing problems, or generate unacceptable traffic impacts or unacceptable harm to the character or natural resources of these areas.

But Cllr Gruff Williams said: “I can see no problem with applications in well screened areas, but we need to protect what visitors come here for in the first place, which is the natural beauty of the area.

“What kind of landscape do we want in our coastal areas in the future? Is it something like Prestatyn and Rhyl or do we look at the cumulative effect and try and do something about it?”

Cllr Meurig said there would be further opportunities for councillors to contribute to the process.

Members were asked to bring any instances of planning regulations being broken in their own communities to the attention of officers.

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