I spoke to many people who went there in the summer, and had planned to take my grandaughter this year.
A day at the beach in the Midlands-- an excellent idea. Not far to go and a good dayout in the long school holidays -for parents-- and grandparents-- too. Especially when they have exhausted the museums, zoo's, etc. and playschemes have finished..
I suspected that he had no planning permission at the start.
Knowing the council I dont think they could have coped with this new idea, and maybe he knew that and went ahead, Locals complained that it would eventually lead to noise and traffic polluting the area. Why didn't they--the council-- allow it , and then see what happened. They could then have assessed it. And..it wouldn't have cost them anything.
That doesn't mean we should be allowed to flout rules, but a bit of imagination on their part would have helped . I wonder how how many of them agreed to close it down,.... and also how old they are..

Maybe I am missing the point, but I am struggling to see what the real issue is here. In Warwickshire we are many miles from the seaside and so for some it is a rare experience. It is said that it breaks the planning rules. If that is really the case then was there no opportunity for the owner to rectify any real problems??