Holiday let shed appeal dismissed in second-home hotspot

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

An appeal against the refusal of plans to turn a garden shed into a holiday let in a seaside village with one of the highest concentrations of second homes in Wales has been dismissed.

Last April, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority rejected an application by Shabnam Banihashem, of 19a Wesley Road, Little Haven, to convert a rear garden shed — which had already been replaced with a summerhouse — into self-contained holiday accommodation.

The proposal attracted local opposition in Little Haven, where levels of second homes and short-term holiday lets are among the highest in Pembrokeshire.

The Havens Community Council objected to the scheme, raising concerns about parking provision, highway access arrangements and the potential impact on road safety.

An officer report recommending refusal said: “The Authority has concerns in connection with the proposal due to the impact upon the residential amenity of the host dwelling, and its immediate neighbours, the impact upon the character of the Little Haven Conservation Area due to the potential for additional traffic, and due to the proposed summerhouse being unsuitable in terms of size for the use of holiday letting.”

The application was refused on grounds including “introducing a significantly greater level of noise and disturbance than the current situation, to the detriment of the residential amenity of neighbouring properties,” and impact on the conservation area.

Since that refusal, the applicant appealed the decision with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW); a site visit by the inspector taking place on January 28 of this year.

The main areas covered in the appeal were the effect of the proposal on the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers and future occupiers of the proposal, with regard to noise and privacy, and the character of the Little Haven Conservation Area, the inspector’s report said.

In dismissing the appeal, she said: “I have found the proposal would be acceptable with regard to its effect on the Conservation Area.

“However, this is outweighed by the harm that would be caused to the living conditions of the occupiers of the host dwelling, as well as occupiers of the proposal, with regard to privacy.”

Report

A previous national park report, based on the second homes council tax premium payable to Pembrokeshire County Council, has said nearly two-thirds of properties in Little Haven are either second homes or holiday lets.

At the time of the 2023 report, the highest rates of seconds homes or holiday lets in the national park were: Nolton Haven at 60% and Little Haven 62.96%.