Residents urge council to refuse third holiday let in row of cottages

People living in Rhodes Cottages, on the eastern edge of North Berwick, off Lime Grove and just south of Glen Golf Club, are appealing to East Lothian Council licensing chiefs to refuse a licence for a third house in their "small enclave" to begin operating as a holiday let.

They say that two of the eight cottages which sit in the quiet street are already used as short-term lets, leading to drunken disturbance and late-night noise, as "hundreds of strangers" pass through their tiny community each year.

And they point out that allowing a third cottage to become a holiday home could mean that there are more holidaymakers than residents in the street at any given time, with the short-term properties converted to two bedrooms, while the residential cottages remain one bedroom.

One resident said: “Rhodes Cottages is a small, quiet enclave of only eight homes.

"The addition of a third [short-term let] would create a tipping point that is frankly unsustainable.

“We have already dealt with the reality of frequent, unpredictable turnover. We have faced recurring issues with noise, late-night disturbances and anti-social behaviour from guests who treat the area as a holiday destination rather than a residential neighbourhood.”

Another resident added: “The turnover of transient visitors is detrimental to the character, privacy and safety of our street.

"There is also the problem of the potential disturbance caused by people who are just 'here for a good time', regardless of their behaviour on the neighbours.”

While another told the licensing board in their objection: “You have disabled and elderly residents in some of the cottages; the council has a duty of care towards them and their safety.”

The application for a change of use for the cottage has been lodged by a Dundee-based company named as GACDAN Ltd.

It will be heard by the council’s licensing sub committee on Thursday.