Glamping in Herefordshire is booming, if three recent planning applications are anything to go by.

The Wells campsite, near Bromyard, plans to add to its current five Airstream caravans with a further nine, to provide what its application calls “an upmarket glamping experience”.

It describes the distinctive shiny, retro-styled US-made caravans as “the trailer of choice for erstwhile pop stars and famous country singers”.

The current five caravans were trialled in the summer of 2020, when they were “fully booked and received rave reviews from guests”, the application says.

It also sets out plans to build a single-storey, timber-clad reception, toilet and utility building at the Green Lane site.

The caravans would be spread out across 3.4 hectares of fields, and would only be used between spring and autumn, being stored away the rest of the year.

A previous application for 12 glamping pitches, on a site twice the size, “was considered to be too large a scale by the planning case officer”, the application says.

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Across the county, Trewern Outdoor Centre of Cusop, near Hay-on-Wye, has bid to install four pre-made “glamping pods” in a field within the centre’s grounds.

Each with a 40-square-metre footprint, the Lancashire-made Moddpods comprise two bedrooms, a living room and shower/WC and are fully insulated.

Pre-application advice from Herefordshire Council found the plans “broadly acceptable” and in line with its policy on tourism.

At nearby Clifford, meanwhile, permission has already been granted for a holiday yurt, and separate composting toilet, at the farm of Artistraw Cider.

Standing in the corner of a newly planted traditional standard orchard, the round timber and canvas structure, complete with chimney, will be taken down during winter.

The plan “has not been found to result in adverse impact on the residential amenity of surrounding residents nor to adversely impact the local natural or historic environment”, planning officer David Gosset concluded.

Herefordshire Council's head of economic development Roger Allonby said: “It is great to see that tourism in the county is booming, as Herefordshire is becoming a far more recognised staycation destination.”

A separate bid to install a three glamping pods at Evendine Lane, Colwall, has been withdrawn.