Cottage Near Famous Whitby Abbey Steps to Become Holiday Let

Thursday, 8 June 2023 06:00

By Anttoni James Numminen, Local Democracy Reporter

A cottage near the famous Whitby Abbey steps is to be converted into a holiday let despite objections from the town council.

North Yorkshire Council has approved the conversion of a three-storey cottage on 114 Church Street, Whitby, into a holiday let made up of four en-suite rooms that will be let individually.

The building is located in the “historic core of the town” on Church Street which has a mix of commercial and residential uses and is close to the listed 199 Whitby Abbey steps.

The conversion of Poppy Cottage was given the go-ahead despite objections lodged by Whitby Town Council relating to the plan’s impact on the capacity of local services and infrastructure.

During the consultation stage, the town council said that it considered

“the use to be overdevelopment which will have a detrimental impact on the capacity of services and infrastructure”

However, the planning authority said that the conversion of the dwelling, which until 2015 was a holiday let marketed as a single unit, was considered “not to be overdevelopment of the site” and will have a “limited additional impact on the capacity of services and infrastructure”.

The change to individual letting rooms means there will be a maximum of 12 occupiers at a time.

The Highway Authority said it did not object to the plan “on the clear understanding that the different holiday lets for this application will be conditioned to remain ancillary to a single ownership”.

In order to counter possible impacts on residential amenity, the planning authority imposed conditions on the number of guests and the length of occupancy.

Whilst larger families or groups will be able to book more than one room, “groups of all male or female parties, will not be accepted”, according to the authority’s report.

The rooms are set to be available 11 months of the year with a maximum let of seven days, closing in January/February.

The planning authority stated that tourism is fundamental to the local economy and that Whitby is one of the main settlements in the district providing services and attractions for visitors.

The authority concluded that the principle of increased tourist accommodation at the site is considered a sustainable development and “acceptable in principle”.

The plan was approved by North Yorkshire Council, subject to conditions, on Wednesday, May 24.