The number of holiday homes and beach houses along the Dutch coast has risen sharply in recent years, despite an agreement intended to limit new developments, current affairs show Nieuwsuur has reported.

In 2017, national and regional authorities, businesses and environmental groups signed an agreement aimed at preventing the Dutch coastline from becoming as heavily built up as the Belgian coast.

The deal was meant to restrict new holiday parks and catering facilities and is set to be extended this October for at least another five years.

However, while large parts of the coasts in North and South Holland remain relatively untouched, behind the dunes in Zeeland the number of tourist facilities has grown rapidly, according to land registry figures.

Of the 3,300 new holiday cottages built in the past eight years, more than three quarters are in Zeeland.

The province argues that many are “pipeline projects” – plans already approved before the pact came into effect. Provincial planning chief Dick van der Velde told Nieuwsuur tighter rules in the new agreement should give officials more control.

“I think stopping altogether goes too far,” he said. “We have to weigh residents’ complaints against the interests of tourists and entrepreneurs.”

Residents, however, warn that Zeeland is already going too far. Local campaigner Gert-Jan Buth has gone to court with others to block a bungalow park in his village.  “It used to be a small campsite for youngsters, but it has been turned into a holiday park without any permit,” he told Nieuwsuur.

Land registry figures also suggest that while there are more beach houses along the coast, the number of traditional pavilions is dropping because stricter rules and high building costs make them harder to operate.

Some 169 pavilions must be dismantled every winter because they only have temporary permits. Officials say this helps with coastal protection but owners say is expensive and impractical.