Town councillors have recommended that a local occupancy clause should not be placed on a Keswick guest house a retiring couple are seeking to change into a dwelling because it could trap them in the property.
John and Susan Berry, who have run the six-bedroom Parkfield guest house on The Heads, have lodged a change of use application with the Lake District National Park Authority LDNPA.
Keswick Town Council’s planning committee initially recommended to support the change in principle, providing it included a local occupancy clause.
It would effectively limit ownership of the property to someone with an established connection to the local area.
But councillors decided to support the change without the local occupancy clause being added because it was felt the couple would find it hard to sell the bed and breakfast business and be unable to move.
Councillor Paul Titley said enforcing a local occupancy clause was “a purely administrative box-ticking exercise which can trap somebody in homes forever.”
He said that if the owners could not change the use of the property to a dwelling, they would find it hard to sell the bed and breakfast business and be unable to move.
Coun Makrus Campbell-Savours said that due to its size, the property would be “effectively unsellable” on the local market if a local occupancy clause were added.
And Coun Tony Lywood said it was counter-intuitive to issue the local occupancy clause as it would effectively do nothing to help local people onto the property ladder and keep the occupants locked into the building for a lifetime.
The meeting was told that there are currently more than 10 similar bed and breakfast businesses for sale in Keswick that have been listed for several months.
Coun Adam Paxon urged caution by pointing out that if the property’s use can simply be changed in order for its owners to sell then a dangerous precedent could be set whereby bed and breakfasts could easily be turned into second homes or holiday lets.
The council was in disagreement about whether an official change of use was even necessary and Coun Sally Lansbury abstained from the vote due to a lack of clarity over planning policy.
Coun Campbell-Savours tabled a successful motion to ask for clarification from the LDNPA whether a change of use is actually required.
Also debated was a gable and dormer extension to 16 Springs Road, Keswick, which councillors strongly objected to on the grounds that the semi- detached property would become asymmetrical.
Homeowner Martin Tonks, who is in the process of moving into the property from Manchester, said that no such symmetry exists due to a removed chimney and bay windows on one side.
He added that the extension was commonplace where he comes from and adds space without building sideways.
Coun Steve Harwood said: “I don’t care what they do in Manchester, we don’t do it here.”
Other decisions included support for the felling of seven trees at Keswick Ministries on Skiddaw Street providing new trees are planted; an objection to replacing a stone wall with a fence at 3, Shu Le Crow Gardens due to the historic character of the stone; and supporting the change of use of Launderclean on Helvellyn Street to a retail bakery.
