A HOLIDAY let in the centre of a seaside village has been refused after concerns that “short-term lets kill the community”.

The three-bedroom property on Gullane’s Rosebery Place had been used as short-term let accommodation since May 2021.

Norman Gray, who lives in New South Wales in Australia, had called on East Lothian Council to allow the business to keep operating.

However, the local authority’s planning department has refused the retrospective application and deemed its use to be “incompatible with and harmful to the amenity” of the neighbouring properties.

The decision comes after the village’s community council did not support the plans and two members of the public objected.

The planning officer’s report said Gullane Area Community Council described the proposal as “unfortunate” due to the shortage of small properties available for permanent homes.

The report reads: “They state that there is no available parking at the property and that the general location is very busy where there is a shortage of available parking. They state that the provision of space for up to five guests creates the potential for there to be multiple vehicles needing to park.

“They also state that the property shares an entry with a number of other flats, creating the potential for disturbance.

“Accordingly, Gullane Area Community Council advise that they do not support this retrospective planning application.”

Among the concerns from the public was that the use of the flat as a short-term holiday let had “caused major problems in the past” and “the atmosphere is changing” as more properties in the block were allowed to operate as short-term lets.

Other objections focused on unknown people coming and going posing “a security issue”, and “short-term lets kill the community and should not be allowed”.

The second-floor property is capable of accommodating five people.

A supporting statement noted that it had proven popular with people attending the Scottish Open, which has been held in the county for the last six years.

The owner said: “It is not our intention to over-promote the property as this is our sole owned property and it is let while we are working overseas until July 2027.

“We feel the property being used is more beneficial to the local economy.”

The planning officer noted that the change of use provided accommodation and attracted visitors to the area, which boosted the economy.

However, they stressed they would not support the proposal when there was “an unacceptable impact” on local amenity or where the loss of residential accommodation was not “outweighed by demonstrable local economic benefits”.

East Lothian Council’s anti-social behaviour team and Police Scotland confirmed that they had no objection to the proposals.

The planning officer noted: “The use of the application property as a holiday let enables it to be let out for short stays, resulting in a turnover of people over short time periods, with a significant proportion of occupants likely to be visitors.

“Such a regular turnover of users/occupants would change the nature of comings and goings not only to the application property itself but also within the communal entrance and internal stairwell of the residential flatted building.

“Most users/occupants of the holiday let would have a degree of luggage or other property to take through the communal entrances and stair, which in itself would lead to a level of disturbance and nuisance not associated with the permanent/long-term residential use of the property.

“This is harmful to the amenity of the occupants of the residential properties within the flatted building of 8 Main Street.”