Airbnb ‘prison-camp watchtower’ blasted by angry neighbours

Richard Evans, local democracy reporter

A “monstrous” structure built in the garden of an Airbnb let has been likened to a “prison-camp watchtower” by angry neighbours.

The large tower was built at the site of a holiday let on Tan y Bryn Road in Rhos on Sea, Conwy county, without planning permission.

A retrospective application for the “garden room” was turned down by Conwy Council’s planning department in June 2024, but a new application has now been submitted.

Furious neighbours say the structure is blighting their day-to-day lives.

Conwy Council said the new application contains additional information which will be considered “on its merits” by officers before a decision is made.

‘Detrimental impact’

A planning statement issued in support of the proposal said it was “not considered to have a detrimental impact on privacy or residential amenity to neighbouring properties”.

Nick Whitmore, 35, lives by the property with his partner and three young children.

He claimed life at the family’s “dream home”, which they moved into in November 2021, has been marred by the holiday let nearby, which was purchased by a Sheffield-based property owner in December 2023.

Mr Whitmore said the platform and cabin, which overlooks his garden, was built in January 2024.

Neighbours reported the matter to Conwy Council, and JAM Domestic Properties Ltd submitted a planning application retrospectively, which was refused.

Mr Whitmore said: “The main house of the Airbnb, once a domestic dwelling when we bought ours in 2021, is now a full-time holiday let.

“It’s advertised on Airbnb year-round, bringing noise, light pollution, and worse.

“The impact on my partner, our three children, and our neighbours is horrendous.

“The structure dominates our house and garden, as well as our neighbours’.

“It looks into my daughter’s bedroom.

“We alerted Conwy, who asked the company to stop work.

“They did, and submitted a retrospective planning application, which was refused in June 2024 after numerous neighbour objections.

“With no appeal by the 16 December 2024 deadline, we thought the council would follow through and move to enforce their own refusal.

“We assumed relief was near. Instead, two weeks ago, earlier in March 2025, the owner submitted a near-identical planning application.

“We’ve now endured over 15 months of this situation, with Conwy sitting on their hands while local families and residents suffer daily.”

Privacy

In May last year, Mr Whitmore spotted a person taken photographs from the tower, which exacerbated his concerns about his family’s privacy.

“We still don’t know who they were or why they were there,” he said.

Mr Whitmore added: “We’ve had to live with the blight, strain, and anxiety caused by the ‘garden room’ planning application for over 15 months now, due to Conwy County Council, while the directors of the company have visited maybe three or four times, tops, as they live in Sheffield.

“The proposed garden room absolutely dwarfs the house, garden, and general amenity of the neighbouring properties.

“Conwy refused permission for this monstrosity, then sat on their hands and refused to enforce their own refusal – how does that work?

“As a young family doing our best for our children, we feel incredibly let down by the council who should be enforcing planning policies and legislation.

“We should be investing our time in our children and our own lives, not fighting the same vexatious planning battle for a second time.”

He added: “We are a local, hard-working family with three children under the age of 10.

“My partner and I worked very, very hard to buy our dream home, just up the road from the children’s school, various public parks, with a bedroom for each of our children, and a nice garden for them to enjoy.

“This has now been taken away from us as we back onto a busy Airbnb and, since Jan 2024, a building site.”

Neighbours Stephen and Hazel Walburn wrote a letter of objection to the council.

“The cabin is 13m above our main living area and certainly feels to us to be out of character and overbearing,” they wrote.

“Its scale and appearance are unlike other garden buildings in the area. It fails to enhance the local environment, commanding attention not unlike a prison camp watchtower.”

They added: “It dominates the roofscape and is alien and incongruous.”

Susan Mahony also wrote an objection letter, saying the tower would “potentially enable eyeline into a bedroom window”.

Garden structure

A Conwy Council spokeswoman said: “Planning permission was granted in 2016 for a smaller garden structure on this site.

“In February 2024, it was brought to our attention that a larger outbuilding was being constructed.

“Following an investigation by the planning enforcement officer, the owners agreed to cease work and to submit a planning application to regularise the work.

“An application was submitted; it was refused on 17/06/2024 based on concerns about the impact of the structure on the street scene.

“Following this, the owner employed the services of a local planning agent.

“Officers have not taken enforcement action at this time as positive steps are still being taken to seek to voluntarily regularise the breach.

“Enforcement action cannot be taken purely to stop an unauthorised development; there has to be sound planning reasons for this to happen and government guidance states that Local Planning Authorities must act in a proportionate way in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.”

She added: “A new planning application has now been submitted, and although the proposal has not changed, the agent has provided additional information which includes a topographical survey, additional site plans, and a supporting statement to seek to overcome the refusal reasons.

“Officers will now consider the merits of the current application. If it’s refused, we will consider serving an enforcement notice.”

‘String objections’

Colwyn Bay Town Council unanimously expressed strong objections to the latest retrospective application at a planning meeting on Monday evening and supported the neighbours’ concerns.

The town council said the application negatively impacts residents’ privacy, with one neighbouring property having eight windows that will be directly overlooked.

JAM Domestic Properties Ltd was contacted for a comment.

A planning statement provided by Cadnant Planning in support of the application reads: “Views from the raised platform into neighbouring properties were recognized as being available from the initial planning consent.

“The proposed development is not considered to lead to an acceptable increase to this and is not considered to have a detrimental impact on privacy or residential amenity to neighbouring properties, and therefore would be acceptable on this basis.”