Plans for a Pembrokeshire holiday development at the site of a former pony trekking and zorbing activity centre, which had to stop due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, have been refused by the National Park.

Zorbing is a sports activity rolling downhill inside an orb, usually made of see-through plastic.

In an application to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Lawson and Penny Owen, through agent Hayston Developments & Planning Ltd, sought a partly-retrospective permission for nine self-contained holiday units and a twin-unit shepherd’s hut, along with associated works, on land south of Nolton Stables, Nolton.

A supporting statement said: “There are two distinct elements to the proposal with the larger being the provision of five pods and four lodges which will be accessed by a farm track which leads south towards a former quarry and thence to the shoreline,” adding: “The second and smaller element involves contains a virtually flat area with a separate but adjacent access from the local highway on which a 12 space car park is proposed together with the retention of a Shepherd’s Hut (a unit of holiday accommodation) and its separate garden and parking area.”

The statement added: “The income from the proposed holiday accommodation will form a smaller proportion than that derived from the agricultural activities undertaken across the four farms – an example of farm diversification where the agricultural activities remain the major element.

“In previous years the applicants operated a pony trekking enterprise and a Zorbing activity as part of a farm diversification strategy.

“Unfortunately, Covid required the cessation of both activities and therefore both a loss of income for the Partnership as well local jobs for those in the Nolton community.”

It says the applicants have previously operated a 2.3 acre campsite which has been managed as an exempted site under license from the Camping and Caravanning Club for over five years, an outside cinema for up to 28 days per year for a period in excess of five years, and the Zorbing experience, and the applicants are considering modifying an existing building within the Nolton Stables complex as a wedding venue.

It concluded: “It should also be noted that this proposal is in substitution for the operation of a successful pony trekking enterprise and a smaller scale Zorbing activity both of which had to be abandoned because of Covid-19 and the associated requirements to minimise personal contact.

“The applicants have a history of diversification of their farming activities in and around Nolton. It is anticipated that this new enterprise will restore those jobs lost due to Covid and hopefully increase opportunities both in the construction industry and in hospitality.”

The application was refused on a long list of grounds including insufficient information that it accords with farm diversification policy, insufficient information submitted “to enable the Authority to fully consider the impact of the proposal in terms of landscape and seascape character,” insufficient information relating to the justification and feasibility of foul water treatment and surface water flooding risks, and the site being in a mineral safeguarding zone, with insufficient information being submitted “to show that there is no other suitable location for the development or that there is an overriding need for the development”.