Villagers celebrate as holiday lets plan refused
Craster Parish CouncilResidents are celebrating after plans for new holiday lets in their village were turned down for a second time.
Applicant Janet Stansfield wanted to build two holiday cottages on land she owns north and east of Dunstan House, in Dunstan, Northumberland.
A previous application was rejected in April 2023, however the new plans had been recommended for approval because they were not for second homes.
The proposals faced a "record level" of opposition with 124 objections and were blocked unanimously by Northumberland County Council's planning committee.
Speaking after Thursday's meeting, Craster Parish Council chairman Martin Smith, who lives in Dunstan, said the council was "delighted" the plans had been refused.
Jackie Reeves, who lives next to Dunstan House, added the proposal had been "a source of huge concern and anxiety" for more than four years.
"I am proud that our community came together to make their views known with the highest ever number of objections to any planning application in the area."
'Dangerous precedent'
A total of 55% of the homes in Dunstan are already holiday homes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Because of this, the Craster Neighbourhood Plan, which covers the village, includes policies that deny support to new housing unless it will be used as permanent dwellings.
The Northumberland Local Plan also states that new second homes in parishes which have 20% or more households with no permanent residents would not be supported.
However, council planners said because the application was for holiday homes rather than second homes, the application was acceptable.
Speaking at Thursday's meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Planning Committee, the applicant's agent Stuart Palmer also argued that was the case.
He said: "The intention is to create a holiday destination on site, not to create second homes. To stay in one of these houses would cost in excess of £3,500 a week."
Adam Shanley, Craster Parish Council clerk, said the meeting marked "groundhog day" for residents after the previous application.
Conservative Guy Renner-Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward, warned that approving the application could set a "dangerous precedent" for planners across the country.
He said: "Every single one of my parishes is now 20% or more holiday lets. If we allow this today, it would set a very dangerous precedent, not just for Northumberland but for the whole of England.
"It would be a case law used in places like Cornwall and Cumbria in the Lake District.
"We have to refuse it. There is no way we can allow it."
Fellow Conservative, Wooler's Mark Mather, added the development was not "appropriate" for the site.
"These areas are at risk of losing their communities and if you lose them what are you left with?" Mather said.
"People come for the weekend and they leave - they don't invest in the area, they don't invest in Northumberland."