After 14 years, temporary cabin near Scarborough is now a lawful home
A timber cabin that was only ever supposed to be a temporary home has officially become a permanent dwelling after more than a decade of occupation.
Hillside Barns, on Seamer Moor Lane near Scarborough, has been granted lawful status as a permanent home by North Yorkshire Council after planners accepted evidence showing it had been lived in continuously for more than a decade.
The decision marks the latest twist in a planning saga stretching back more than 16 years.
The cabin was originally granted permission in 2010 as: “Temporary residential accommodation in association with a forestry contracting and wood products business.”
At the time, planners accepted there was a genuine need for accommodation linked to the forestry operation on the site.
However, the approval came with a strict condition requiring the cabin to be removed by July 2013 unless fresh permission was obtained.
The original planning report stated: “The temporary nature of the building is such that it is considered inappropriate on a permanent basis.”
The owners, Colin and Rhona Zoeller, later applied for a Certificate of Lawfulness, arguing that the cabin had been used as a permanent home since July 2012.
To prove their case, they submitted more than a decade’s worth of paperwork, including council tax, water bills and Royal Mail correspondence.
Unlike a normal planning application, councillors and officers were not being asked whether they thought a countryside home should be approved.
Instead, they had to decide whether there was enough evidence to show the building had already been occupied as a dwelling for long enough that enforcement action could no longer be taken.
A report on the application made clear: “Planning merits are not relevant at any stage in this particular application.”
Officers concluded the evidence submitted was “precise, sufficient and unambiguous” and that the authority had “no evidence itself, nor any from others, to dispute the content of the applicant’s evidence.”
In its formal decision last month, the council concluded: “On the balance of probabilities, the Local Planning Authority is satisfied that the submitted evidence demonstrates that the site … has been in use as a single residential unit for the requisite period.”
The ruling means the use of Hillside Barns as a permanent home is now formally recognised as lawful and is no longer liable to planning enforcement action.