A PETITION to block the development of 25 log cabins in “the heart of an area of natural beauty” has amassed nearly 2,000 signatures.

The campaign, entitled ‘Save Beddgelert Forest campsite’, is hoping to block a planning application by Forest Holidays to redevelop the Forestry Commission Campsite to a holiday camp.

If Snowdonia National Park’s planning committee agree to the controversial development then the campsite would be reduced from having 195 caravan and tent pitchings to having 55, a reduction of 72 per cent.

Customers could also be expected to pay nearly £4,500 for a week in a log cabin if the price of the facilities in Beddgelert are similar to a Forest Holiday project in the Forest of Dean (£4,385 for a five-bedroom cabin in August).

However Forest Holidays have compiled an economic report which states that, because people are more likely to stay in a log cabin rather than a tent over winter, the facility will bring tourists to the area throughout the year, boosting the local economy.

They also claim the project will create 20 new jobs.

The application is due for consideration by the National Park on 1 March and all objections/observations have to be received by 10 February.

Read the full story in today’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News