The owner of a North Berwick holiday flat refused permission to operate is fighting a bid to shut it down after claiming the service it offers has changed.
James Miller-Stirling was refused permission to carry on using the flat on Balfour Street as a short term holiday let by East Lothian Council planners earlier this year after they ruled it was not a ‘lawful’ use.
He lost an appeal to Scottish Ministers to overturn the council decision but has lodged a fresh appeal against an enforcement notice issued by the council demanding it is no longer rented out.
In his latest appeal, agents for Mr Miller-Stirling argue that the circumstances of the flat have changed as it is now only rented for a minimum of seven days a week – it was previously stated stays were for four days or more.
And they say that any suggestion cleaning the flat between visits was any more intense than cleaners being used by residents was untrue.
They say: “Given that any residential occupier might elect to make use of various cleaning services on a regular basis, it is not held that the servicing of the appeal property results in an intensified pattern of activity or movement when compared to any other residential use.”
The flat owner had applied for a Certificate of Lawfulness for the property which would have meant he did not need to apply for planning permission for a change of use however planners rejected the application.
Despite this East Lothian Licensing bosses issued a temporary licence to run the short term let, a decision taken independent of planning.
In the appeal against the enforcement notice Mr Miller-Stirling’s agents hold up the licence as “a strong indicator that the property’s use does not result in public nuisance, nor generate valid or material complaints from neighbours”.
They argue that the change in the length of stay at the flat which is only rented out for around 100 days a year means there can only be a maximum of 14 resident arrivals per year which is no more disruptive than if it were used as a residential flat.
They say:”The appellant therefore contends that no material change of use has occurred.”
The case has been allocated to a Reporter for investigation.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
