PLANS to create an eco holiday lodge park on farmland in North Yorkshire have been withdrawn.

The proposals to create the tourism development of 179 chalets between Great Ayton and Stokesley had been recommended for refusal in a report by Hambleton District Council planners for this week’s planning committee meeting. But now the plans have been withdrawn by the developer.

They involved creating a green holiday village, Angrove Country Park, along with fishing ponds, café and cycle hire and a solar farm on land west of Great Ayton.

Situated on the Coast to Coast cycle route, the developer said the site’s emphasis on cycling would help ensure that the Endeavour Way – a long-awaited route for cyclists between Great Ayton and Stokesley – would became a reality.

The plans attracted the support of Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, for the potential to promote cycling in Yorkshire and to support Hambleton’s tourism economy.

The plans received 64 submissions of support and 134 formal objections, which focused on issues such as the effect on natural habitats, rural surroundings and footpaths, as well as the loss of a land buffer between Stokesley and Great Ayton. A campaign group, Action Group Against Angrove Park, was also set up.

Other objections focused on the size of the development in proportion to Great Ayton and potential congestion and parking problems an influx of holidaymakers could cause in the village. Some objectors also queried the developer’s claims that it would have a cumulative economic impact of £24.4m a year.

In a report that had been due to go before Hambleton District Council’s planning committee, officers had recommended councillors turned down the plans, stating: “Due to its scale and extent, the number of users and associated activity, the proposed development would be an inappropriate form of tourism development and would result in an unacceptable level of harm to the existing tranquil agricultural character of the surroundings, and would contribute to the further urbanisation of the countryside in an ‘area of restraint’.”

Officers said it would also result in the loss of versatile agricultural land.

Now the developers have withdrawn the planning application and say they are reviewing a number of options, including revising plans in light of the concerns.

Planning consultant Steve Hesmondhalgh, who advised on the proposals, said: “We are reviewing a number of options and one of those is resubmission.”