THE Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW) has pledged to donate £5,000 towards the legal fees for the Save Penrhos Campaign’s legal challenge of a proposed 500 “chalet” holiday park development on Penrhos Coastal Park, Holyhead.

At a court hearing in Cardiff earlier this month, a judge agreed for the campaign group’s case to be heard as part of a judicial review to be held later this year.

In 2016, the Cumbria-based property development company Land and Lakes secured planning permission from Isle of Anglesey County Council for a £120million “world-class leisure village”.

The plans entail 500 cabins, shops, restaurants, bars, and a “tropical-style” swimming pool.

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Campaigners have been fighting this application, to save Penrhos as it currently exists, for 15 years.

Holy Island is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Penrhos an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Jonathan Colchester, chair of CPRW, said: “The purpose of CPRW is to protect the Welsh countryside for current and future generations.

“We are proud to stand fully behind the heroic local volunteers who have fought this case for so long.

“Saving this area of outstanding natural beauty has become one of our priorities.

“We are living through a nature and climate crisis, and it is critical that we all play a part in reversing the rapid decline in our landscape and its complex ecology.

“Also crucial are the social values that support it and that includes local businesses. This unnecessary development is a massive step in the wrong direction.

“This issue has also galvanised local people to join CPRW Anglesey Branch, and we welcome local residents to join us in support of our priceless Welsh countryside.”

Hilary Paterson-Jones, who leads the Save Penrhos Campaign, added: “Penrhos is a historic 200-acre coastal park in Holyhead, Ynys Môn, the only woodland on the island.

“The park has Grade II listed historical buildings dating back to 1553 and was officially opened as a Nature Reserve by the Prince of Wales in 1971.

“The woodland created in 1700s is now home to many rare species of flora, fauna and wildlife including red squirrels.

“It is much loved by local people from nearby Holyhead for walking and swimming.

“Thank you to CPRW for donating towards our legal fees, we have a long battle ahead but with their support and everyone behind us we can stop this development.”