Securing planning permission for 360 Golf in Dartmoor National Park
Securing planning permission for 360 Golf in Dartmoor National Park
KOR Communications designed and delivered the pre-application consultation around proposals for a new chapter for the former Teign Valley Golf Club, one of the most ambitious leisure and nature restoration schemes to come forward within Dartmoor National Park. Around 130 club members attended consultation sessions, the project website drew 1,100 visits in its first month, and changes made in response to feedback saw an objection withdrawn and replaced with a letter of support before the Dartmoor National Park Authority granted planning permission in September 2025.
The project
We were appointed by 360 Sycamore Ltd to design and deliver pre-application consultation on proposals for the reinvigoration of Teign Valley Golf Club, working alongside a project team including internationally recognised golf course architect Tom Mackenzie. The plans combined a reconfigured 12-hole course with new hospitality, leisure and visitor accommodation, alongside a large-scale nature restoration programme returning extensive areas of the site to species-rich habitats, including Atlantic rainforest, diverse grasslands, scrub and wetlands.
Development within a National Park carries particular planning and environmental sensitivities, and the proposals also represented a significant change for the club and its members. The consultation therefore needed to give every stakeholder group an opportunity to be heard.
Our approach
A stakeholder mapping exercise shaped a programme of engagement aligned with the Dartmoor Local Plan, sequenced from the inside out: the club's twelve employees first, then its 400 members, then elected representatives and neighbours, through presentations, exhibitions and a dedicated project website.
Early engagement with the Dartmoor National Park Authority shaped the designs before public consultation began, including the case officer's advice to cluster new buildings on the site.
The outcome
Planning permission was granted by the Dartmoor National Park Authority in September 2025. The consultation reached well beyond the club itself, with the project website receiving 1,100 visits in its first month and proactive media engagement generating coverage on BBC News Online and BBC Radio Devon.
The consultation gave the applicant a detailed understanding of the issues that mattered most to golf club members, neighbours and the Authority, and the documented record of engagement, together with the changes made in response, supported the application through to determination.
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The approved scheme will see Teign Valley Golf Club in Dartmoor National Park reinvigorated with a 12-hole course designed by Tom Mackenzie, a country inn and restaurant, visitor cabins and extensive nature restoration returning large areas of the site to species-rich habitats, including developing Atlantic rainforest, grasslands, scrub and wetlands. The Dartmoor National Park Authority granted planning permission in September 2025.
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Consultation followed the guidance published alongside the Dartmoor Local Plan. Employees were consulted first, then the club's 400 members, neighbours, parish councils and all nineteen members of the National Park Authority. This engagement was supported by a project website, dedicated contact channels and proactive media engagement that generated BBC coverage.
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Yes. Feedback from neighbours and the Authority led to the proposed staff accommodation being relocated. The neighbouring objections that had been lodged were withdrawn from the planning portal and replaced with expressions of support, and permission was granted in September 2025.