A town councillor has accused the Lake District National Park Authority of emptying communities like Keswick and warned of a “last one out turn off the lights” scenario.
Cllr Paul Titley spoke out at a recent meeting of Keswick Town Council.
He was referring to planners giving permission for the change of use of guest houses to unmanaged holiday lets – against the direct wishes of the town council.
The council has warned that it means family homes being lost to the town – as B&B operators tended to live on the premises, sometimes with their children.
There have also been concerns that allowing large groups of unmanaged properties had led to instances of anti-social behaviour.
The less permanent residents there are in Keswick, the more local people had to pay a shortfall in council tax, said Cllr Titley.
The February meeting of the council was told that members had objected to 14 such applications, all of which had been approved by the LDNPA.
Cllr Titley vented his frustrations to Dr Geoff Davies, who was attending the meeting as a representative of the LDNPA, after learning planners had recently agreed to two more change of use applications.
Dr Davies is the chairman of the national park authority’s development control committee – its planning panel – which has approved the applications on the advice of planning officers at the LDNPA.
Cllr Titley said: “The national park is compliant with emptying this community. It’s becoming a case of last one out turn out the lights.
“Every time a property is emptied of a resident, his or her precept gets shared out amongst the rest of us.’’
He urged Dr Davies to take back the concerns of the council to the LDNPA and tell them how angry members are that planners keep going against councillors’ objections.
Cllr Titley said that people who come to stay at an Airbnb or holiday lets are not part of the community and if residents continued to leave there would not be as many schools and the hospital would be downsized.
“What we are asking is that you protect the community,’’ said Cllr Titley.
Dr Davies said that he had already made people at the LDNPA well aware of the members’ concerns and made a point that the council needed to be heard.
“The time will come when you will be able to say that enough is enough,’’ said Dr Davies. “We have got to look at the individual circumstances of each application and consider what is justifiable in planning terms.
“The new local plan was developed over a number of years and the proposal by which the change from a B&B guest house to a holiday let is possible was the subject of public consultation in 2018.’’
Dr Davies added: “I can understand where you are coming from but it does not bind me from voting one way or another.”
Recently, the LDNPA doubled down on its commitment to lobby Cumbrian MPs and government ministers to intervene in the problem.
But business owners have reported difficulties in selling their properties as a B&B or guesthouse, and say the market has changed since Covid.
