A CONTROVERSIAL scheme to build holiday log cabins in the Mortimer Forest near Ludlow appears to have been felled.

The scheme has been removed from the Forest Holidays website.

Andy Boddington, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North, believes the scheme is dead.

But whilst he was against the proposal he believes that a more modest holiday scheme might be appropriate.

“The application from Forest Holidays for cabins in Mortimer Forest is not to go ahead,” said Mr Boddington.

“That’s great. But we need to think about how to manage tourism in the Mortimer Forest in the longer term.

“The idea of creating limited tourist accommodation in the Mortimer Forest is not bad in principle. But it needs to be at a scale that works with the forest and is in keeping with a remote rural spot.”

Mr Boddington is scornful of the scheme that had been proposed describing it as a ‘theme park experience.’

“The narrow lanes to the site could not have coped with the traffic,” he added.

“We need to continue to promote the Ludlow area as a tourist destination. But this must not be at the expense of the incredible landscape that attracts visitors in the first place.

“In our times, people move around more. They visit more places. We need to think how best to manage that in the Ludlow area and the Mortimer Forest.”

Forest Holidays was planning to build 68 large-scale holiday houses, some with hot tubs, with an on-site shop, take-away food facilities, restaurant, bar and cycle hire facility, near the peaceful beauty spot of High Vinnalls in Herefordshire and close to the border with Shropshire.

The 50-hectare development would have been sited on Forestry Commission land and is the only piece of land in the entirety of Mortimer Forest where the freehold is owned by the Forestry Commission.

Criticisms from a campaign group especially set up to fight the proposal included the impact upon birds and wildlife as well as damage to the trees, flowers and plants.

Opponents were also sceptical of the claimed economic benefits in terms of the impact upon local shops, pubs, visitor attractions and other tourist-based businesses in Ludlow and south Shropshire.

There has been criticism of the relationship between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays and this is being looked at by Defra, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.