A CARAVAN park is set to extend the amount of time people can live within the park to near year-round occupancy.

Osea Leisure Park on Goldhanger Road in Heybridge is set to have an 11.5 month caravan occupancy approved for an additional area of its site comprising 23 caravans.

The area, known as the Square Slip, would be able to house caravan owners year-round apart from between February 15 and 28, including the Christmas and New Year periods.

If approved, the caravans in Square Slip can be occupied for an additional nine weeks per year.

The park previously applied for permission to increase the occupancy of another one of its areas, Lodge Park, which was approved in 2014.

At present, all caravans on site, excluding those in Lodge Park, cannot be occupied between December 1 and 21 and from January 4 to February 28.

In a report from case officer Kathryn Mathews, which was due to go before Maldon District Council’s central area planning committee on Wednesday, the application was recommended to be approved.

It said: “The proposal would not change the physical appearance of the site. The only noticeable difference would be an increased level of activity during the extended period proposed.

“However, the Square Slip is a relatively small part of the leisure park and given the nature and scale of the likely increased activity, it is not considered that the proposal would have a material impact on the character or appearance of the area.”

No objections came from the Environment Agency or Natural England, and it was stated that although the site lies in a high-risk flooding area, increased residency of the Square Slip would not increase this risk.

Osea Leisure Park is the second caravan park in the district this year to apply for longer tenancy.

Earlier this month the Standard reported Steeple Bay Holiday Park had applied to increase occupancy from eight to nine months a year.

The council approved their application for the park’s sales area to operate nine months a year, but the amount of time people could live in the caravans could not increase.