North Berwick: holiday let objectors unhappy at 'bad' recycling

The owner of the flat in North Berwick applied to East Lothian Council for retrospective permission to change its use to holiday accommodation.

Council planners said the property, on Springfield Gardens, had been operating as a holiday home for seven years with no complaints.

However, they received three objections to the change of use, including claims that the bins were not used properly as well as concerns over the loss of long-term accommodation in the town and the possible disturbance that could be caused by holiday lets.

READ MORE: A third of all North Berwick town centre homes are holiday lets, new study says

And they said they received an additional representation about the bins stating “there is an ongoing issue with guests not using the bins and recycling boxes correctly… this has resulted in the refuse collection supervisor advising that bins/recycling boxed will not be collected if this matter is not addressed.”

Planners said the self-contained flat had its own private entrance and was managed by North Berwick Holiday Homes.

They said the separate entrance and use of services such as waste and recycling meant use of the flat would not be "evidentially different" to if it had a long-term resident.

Opponents also argued that the influx of short-term lets in North Berwick was creating problems, saying that “the perceived economic benefits of tourism to the locality do not, in practice, outweigh the wider issues that have been caused by the proliferation of short-term lets in the central area of North Berwick.”

READ MORE: Permission for North Berwick flat to be used as a holiday let

However planners said: “On balance, the local economic benefits associated with the use of the applicant’s flat operating as a short-term self-catering holiday let accommodation outweighs the loss of residential accommodation.”

The change of use proposed by Angela Ince was approved.