THE owners of a holiday let have been ordered to stop renting it out by a government inspector.

Neighbours of Stone Arthur, situated along the A595 in Kirkby-in-Furness, have complained about their evenings being ruined by parties, sleep being disturbed and excessive noise from guests using a hot tub.

A change of use from a residential property to a holiday let had occurred without planning permission, documents said.

Westmorland and Furness Council served an enforcement notice on the property in May last year stipulating the premises must 'permanently cease' to be a commercial holiday let and that a defined outdoor area must also no longer be used for this purpose.

The owners appealed that decision but it has now been rejected.

They have 13 weeks to permanently cease the use and letting of the premises for commercial gain and the use of outdoor spaces in connection with the holiday let.

Paul Freer was the planning inspector who wrote the appeal decision.

After analysing the 43 representations made in objection to the planning application, Mr Freer wrote: "I was immediately struck by the consistency of the evidence contained within these representations and the significant proportion of the households in Coombe Crescent that made representations, as well as from properties in Askew Gate Brow, School Road and even further afield.

"This indicates just how widespread the characteristics of the use of the appeal property as a holiday let are evident from within Kirkby-in-Furness and are not just experienced by the occupiers of the dwellings directly adjoining the appeal site."

A retrospective application by Patricia Kilty to turn Stone Arthur into a six-bedroom holiday let for up to 12 people was refused in April 2023.

In its notice of refusal of permission, WFC said the change of use had given rise to 'significant noise and disturbance' that had caused 'unacceptable harm to the living conditions' of neighbours.

An appeal was made by Mrs Kilty and Michael Kilty against the notice served by Westmorland and Furness Council.

Their grounds of appeal was that the matters stated in the notice do not constitute a breach of planning control. 

Mr Freer referred to two letters complaining about excessive noise from the hot tub, one alleging that it continued until 4am in one instance and the other citing 7am.

He said there were also issues with up to eight cars being parked on School Road and Coombe Crescent, blocking driveways and resulting in ‘inconvenience’ to local residents.

In their appeal, Mr and Mrs Kilty pointed to Lady Cumbria Ltd, which managed the property on their behalf, setting out a Noise Management Plan requiring guests to keep noise to a minimum after 10pm and that Stag and Hen Do parties are not allowed.

"The evidence in the third-party representations clearly shows that the measures in the Management Plan have been wholly ineffective," Mr Freer wrote in response to this.

Mr Freer also questioned their claim that the property was developed and marketed with family or household groups in mind - as 39 per cent of bookings did not include children, and he cited three instances where 10 or more adults stayed in the house.

He added: “The difficulty is the nature of the occupation of a short-term holiday let. The guests are there for a specific purpose, to relax, to socialise and to enjoy their holiday time.

“Guests typically have no ties to the local area or community. There is no real come-back if they breach the rules and, because management are not on-site at all times, any enforcement of the ‘house rules’ is typically after the event in any case. The damage has been done by then. It is evident that whatever measures Lady Cumbria Ltd have in place have to date been singularly ineffective in preventing the harms described by local residents.”

Mr Freer concluded that the enforcement notice was upheld and planning permission refused.