AN application for more than 20 ‘eco-lodges’ at a derelict Teignbridge quarry has been submitted to planners.

Haldon Quarry could soon be the home to 27 eco-lodges as Wilderness Escapes and Hieronymus Gruff Ltd’s application, which seeks to change the use of the land, has been validated by Teignbridge District Council (TDC).

According to the design and access statement, 26 of the lodges will be ‘for holiday use only’, with the remaining lodge existing for the ‘sole benefit of generating income for a charitable cause’.

Devon Air Ambulance is named in the document.

The proposed units will be of ‘bespoke design and construction’, built to Passivhaus standards of thermal performance and air tightness, heated by an air source heat pump and spaced out, fitting around and within the vegetation.

24/02007/MAJ proposes no new hard surfaces, such as tarmac roads, paths, or curb edgings, rather the existing quarry track routes will be used.

Wilderness Escapes’ ethos is that the accommodation ‘sits within the existing landscape’ and that visitors will stay within the landscape so to ‘fully experience it’.

Electric car charging points will be provided on every holiday eco-lodge, according to the design and access statement.

The existing entrance to the site, formerly a quarry and contractors yard, would be closed and a new, discrete entrance will be created

Public consultation for 24/02007/MAJ, ends on March 27, with the government target date for TDC to make a decision on the application being on or before May 26.

This is not the first time holiday lodges have been proposed for the site.

An application for 42 holiday lodges, submitted by RF Aggregates Limited in 2017, was rejected by TDC.