Keswick Town Council has stuck to its guns in objecting to a planning application made by a guest house owner.
James Lamb, of Cumbria House, is seeking permission to formally allow the 10-room property at Derwentwater Place to operate as both a holiday let and a guest house, or ‘hybrid’ use.
In support of his application to the LDNPA, Mr Lamb explained his position at a meeting of the town council, a consultee in the planning process.
As a principle, the council objects to guest houses and B&Bs being changed to self-catering where there is no on-site management.
That’s because unmanaged groups of people have caused anti-social behaviour problems for residential neighbours.
Mr Lamb told councillors that Cumbria House had already been operating as a “hybrid” property for a total of five years.
He also emphasised that the LDNPA planning application form had not specified that applicants are required to provide details about on-site management.
“It’s not asked of me, so it’s not relevant to the proposal,” Mr Lamb told councillors. “If it was asked of me then, yes, we live there,” he said.
He added: “We are following the precedent of two other properties – Ellergill 22 Stanger Street, and neighbouring Lincoln House, which both operate as a hybrid.”
Neither property had specified their management arrangements, he said, yet their changes had been supported by the town council.
The applications dated back to December 2020 for Ellergill, which is now a dwelling, and to April 2021 for Lincoln House, records show.
Mayor Steve Harwood pointed out that Keswick had seen a recent trend of 30 such applications, which meant the town council now sought more information.
Mr Harwood said he had a “degree of sympathy” and the application process was not designed for “simplicity”.
He told the Reminder afterwards: “In this case a design and access statement should be provided which is intended to explain the design principles and concepts that have been applied for the proposal.
“I feel this should have been requested by the planners before the application was validated – but this has not been requested in this case which I feel is a failure in the system.
“The form does not request this information which leaves it open for anyone considering it to make deductions on the limited information provided. The planners do not ask for this information because it is clear from the high number of permissions granted in this area over the past year that they do not consider it relevant – but we consider it to be of fundamental importance.”
At the meeting, councillor Adam Paxon pointed out that conversions to holiday lets can also lead to the loss of local housing too.
“We have been arguing to the national park that while it won’t show up in their figures, if Keswick loses 30 of these properties, it loses 30 families that lived on site,” said Mr Paxon.
Mr Lamb said that when the property was operating as a guest house they would be living and managing it on-site, but when it was let out as a single unit there would be occasions where they would not.
Councillor Louise Dunn asked Mr Lamb if he and his partner intended to live on site if it was ever let out as self-catering.
“It’s a possibility we may not be there,” confirmed Mr Lamb. Councillor Dunn said if they were going to be on-site when it was operating as a holiday let, the council would have supported his application.
“It sounds like you’re not, so it’s not going to be (supported),” she said. The council voted to confirm its opposition to the application.
Councillor Harwood said he believed that the LDNPA would approve Mr Lamb’s bid.
Applicant warns that town council’s opposition is straying into discrimination
Speaking to the Reminder after the meeting, Mr Lamb warned that the town council’s blanket opposition to new holiday lets without on-site managers may risk straying into “discrimination”.
Mr Lamb said a “discrepancy” remains between the information the council wants from applicants and that required during the process by LDNPA planners, which make the decision.
“The applicant is put at somewhat of a disadvantage since they can only complete the information required,” said Mr Lamb.
He also challenges the council view that holiday lets in “larger” houses increase the risk of anti-social behaviour.
“Both myself and the LDNPA have asked for data and statistics to corroborate this view. Whilst I understand the council have a general fear of incidents I have suggested that the council’s blanket view may stray into discrimination if they are not based more on evidence.”
