People could get to stay the night at a lake in York under new plans.
Plans to install ten fishing lodges and build a new shower block with toilets and office at Pottery Pond, in Strensall, have been lodged with York Council.
The application says the owners want to boost the viability of the business by allowing anglers to stay longer which would bring in higher fees.
The new fishing lodges would be put up around the lake which is at a former clay pit off Strensall’s Pottery Lane.
It lies within a site covering a total area of six acres, including woodland in the green belt.
Trees and plants on the southern part of the site screen the lake during summer.
The site also includes a ten-space parking area.
Two types of lodges, one smaller and another larger, would be installed around the lake.
Plans stated the lodges and new facilities aimed to encourage people to stay at the lake longer and raise income which could be invested in better fish stocks.
They added the improvements would help to boost wildlife habitats there, along with the local economy.
Plans also stated the social, economic and environmental benefits weighed in the application’s favour, given it would result in development on green belt land.
The application stated: “The applicant is proposing ten lodges and amenity facilities to improve the viability of the business by encouraging longer stays and increased fee income from the hire of the lodges, which will enable anglers to stay overnight on the site.
“The increase in numbers of anglers using the site and staying in the lodges for a number of nights year-round will have benefits for the local economy through increased spending.
“Several authoritative studies quantify the economic contribution of fishing
ponds, lakes and inland recreational fisheries to the rural economy in England.”
