Self Catering Accommodation in the Countryside - TSM 5

Planning approval will be granted for self catering units of tourist accommodation in any of the following circumstances: (a) one or more new units all located within the grounds of an existing or approved hotel, self catering complex, guest house or holiday park; (b) a cluster of 3 or more new units are to be provided at or close to an existing or approved tourist amenity that is / will be a significant visitor attraction in its own right; (c) the restoration of an existing clachan or close, through conversion and / or replacement of existing buildings, subject to the retention of the original scale and proportions of the buildings and sympathetic treatment of boundaries. Where practicable original materials and finishes should be included. In either circumstance (a) or (b) above, self catering development is required to be subsidiary in scale and ancillary to the primary tourism use of the site. Where a cluster of self catering units is proposed in conjunction with a proposed or approved hotel, self catering complex, guest house or holiday park and / or tourist amenity, a condition will be attached to the permission preventing occupation of the units before the primary tourism use is provided and fully operational. All permissions for self catering accommodation will include a condition requiring the units to be used for holiday letting accommodation only and not for permanent residential accommodation. The overall design of the self catering scheme, including layout, the provision of amenity open space and the size and detailed design of individual units, must deter permanent residential use. To this end, permitted development rights in respect of plot boundaries will also be removed.