Agenda item

Members, please note that all plans and supporting documents relevant to the review can be viewed online here and by entering the application reference number 231288.

The LRB then considered the second request for a review to evaluate the decision taken by an appointed officer under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation to refuse the application for change of use of flat to Short Term Let accommodation (sui generis) with maximum occupancy of four people (Retrospective) at 16 Bright Street, Aberdeen, AB11 7TE.

The Chairperson advised that Ms Lucy Greene would again be acting as the Planning Adviser to the Body in the following case under consideration this day and reiterated that although the Planning Adviser was employed by the planning authority, she had not been involved in any way with the consideration or determination of the application under review and was present to provide factual information and guidance to the Body only.  She emphasised that the officer would not be asked to express any view on the proposed application.

In relation to the application, the LRB had before it (1) a delegated report by the Appointed Officer, Aberdeen City Council; (2) an application dated 13 October 2023; (3) the decision notice dated 27 February 2024; (4) links to the plans showing the proposal and planning policies referred to in the delegated report;  (5) the Notice of Review submitted by the applicant’s agent; and (6) correspondence from consultee Aberdeen City Council’s Roads Development Management Team and Waste Planning Team; and (7) a letter of representation.

Ms Greene then described the site and outlined the appellant’s proposal.

She indicated that the appointed officer’s reasons for refusal outlined in the decision notice was as follows:-

·       Location of access door on rear elevation, bringing transient guests into private area, passing rear window to use external stairs, detriment to privacy and sense of security;

·       Walking past rear garden to access property and to access the rear garden in upper section of rear curtilage;

·       Overall harm to amenity – privacy, security and enjoyment of garden;

·       Despite likely local economic benefits, impact on local amenity would outweigh this; and

·       Contrary to LDP policy H1 (Residential Areas), Policy 30 (Tourism) in NPF4.

Ms Greene outlined the key points from the appellant’s Notice of Review as follows:-

·       Policy was incorrectly interpreted;

·       Inconsistency of determination of STLs across city, 11 of 178 refused – tenements;

·       Failure to account for material considerations – cases;

·       Arguable there was no change of use as no STL control zone;

·       Amenity was not adversely affected – no enforcement and good ratings;

·       No impact on local housing need;

·       Property used to be one house (1999) and approved with the rear access steps;

·       Property could be HMO – higher risk for amenity;

·       STL had provided accommodation for families whilst they care for relatives;

·       Submission included a letter from the resident of lower flat – citing contentment with situation and management of the flat;

·       Public transport and nearby facilities – complied with policies on transport;

·       Tourism Policy VC2 supported visitor facilities and offered different accommodation;

·       Request clarification over privacy issue regarding the rear door and passageway;

·       Permanent residents would create more comings and goings;

·       In last year occupancy equalled 62% with average stay 7.6 days;

·       Suggested solution to erect signage requesting silence and 5 year condition;

·       Regarding privacy and security – this had not been a problem in real-life, 5 year permission would provide solution;

·       Guests do not walk past neighbours garden – factual inaccuracy;

·       No facilities/seating/dogs/drying green were provided - rear garden could be removed from guest use; and

·       Proposal aligned with policy H1 – Residential Areas and policy 30 on Tourism.

Ms Greene made reference to the letter of objection which made reference to parking pressure, increased potential for parked cars to block driveways, compatibility with resident use in street and the transient population noting that it could also set precedent. No comments were submitted by the Community Council.In terms of the consultee responses, the Council’s Roads and Waste Teams had no objection.

Ms Greene advised that the applicant had expressed the view that no further procedure was required.

At this point in the proceedings, the LRB considered whether they had sufficient information before them to proceed to determine the review.

The Chairperson and Councillors Boulton, Farquhar and Greig all indicated in turn that they each had enough information before them and therefore agreed that the review under consideration should be determined without any further procedure.

In terms of relevant policy considerations, Ms Greene referred to National Planning Framework 4, the Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2023, the Scottish Government’s publication on ‘Short Term Lets: Business and regulatory impact assessment’ from November 2021 and Circular 1/2023: Short Term Lets and Planning.

Ms Greene responded to various questions from members relating to access to the garden, the five year temporary condition and signage.

Members each advised in turn and by a majority of 3 to 1, agreed toreverse the appointed officer’s earlier decision. Planning permission was therefore granted conditionally.

The Chairperson and Councillors Boulton and Farquhar agreed to reverse the decision of the appointed officer, however Councillor Greig advised that he supported the appointed officer’s decision to refuse planning permission.

In coming to their decision, the Local Review Body had regard to the provisions of the development plan as required by Sections 25 and 37 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended) and other material considerations in so far as these were pertinent to the determination of the application.

More specifically, the reasons on which the Local Review Body based this decision are as follows:-

The short term let has been operating for some time with no evidence of problematic issues for the ground floor neighbour, with a letter having been provided in relation to that. In view of this the use is considered acceptable as being complementary to residential use and privacy issues are regarded as having been satisfactorily addressed. The proposal is relatively close to the city centre and therefore complies with Policy VC2: Tourism and T2: Sustainable Transport in the adopted Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2023 (LDP). The proposal would comply with Policy H1: Residential Areas and although there are tensions with Policy D2: Amenity, for the reasons noted above the proposal is considered acceptable.In terms of parking the short term let use was considered to have a similar demand as a residential use, and the proposal complies with Policy T3 in the LDP.

A condition is attached to restrict the permission to a five year temporary period in order for the impact on housing supply to be assessed at that time. The proposal therefore complies with Policy 30 in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).

CONDITIONS

This permission is granted subject to the following conditions.

(01)    DURATION OF PERMISSION

The development to which this notice relates must be begun not later than the expiration of 3 years beginning with the date of this notice. If development has not begun at the expiration of the 3-year period, the planning permission lapses.

Reason - in accordance with section 58 (duration of planning permission) of the 1997 act.

(02) TIME LIMIT FOR SERVICED APARTMENT USE

The use of the flat for short term let accommodation as hereby approved, shall expire 5 years following the date of the grant of permission as stated on this notice, unless a further planning permission has been granted for continued use of the property as serviced apartment accommodation in the meantime. Should no further planning permission be granted then the property shall revert to a flat in residential use after the aforementioned 5-year period.

Reason: In order to allow reassessment of the local housing need and demand situation and the local economic benefits derived from the use of the property as short term let accommodation to be reassessed in 5 years' time, to ensure that the loss of the property as residential accommodation would remain compliant with Policy 30 of NPF4.