Don’t tilt at windmills, residents in ‘haven’ row told

More than 150 people are worried they could be forced from their retirement haven at Lakeminster Park, after East Riding Council started enforcement proceedings over alleged breaches of planning conditions.

The council is taking issue with people living full-time on the park when it should only be used for holidays.

However, many sold their own houses to move into what they believed were permanent homes and have been paying full council tax. Following a meeting on Friday, they are setting up an action group and will meet again privately on October 24.

Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart said residents needed to be clear that the owner would not be granted permanent residency for the site. He said: “If he did he would get millions of pounds reward for having breached planning and that would simply be wrong and set an appalling precedent.

“The owner should put in a planning application to seek planning for temporary residence for the lifetime of the current residents and as soon as they left or died it would revert to holiday use only. The residents need to focus on the owner.”

Mr Stuart said he got the impression officers think there’s a “good chance” of an application for some form of temporary residence succeeding. “I am not an apologist for the council. I am sure there are lessons to be learned for the council but they are not going to provide a solution. It’s tilting at windmills”

Resident Dave Foulstone said: “All we got from the meeting was negatives. They didn’t come up with any sort of glimmer of a solution. The only thing we can do is press (William) Flanningan (director of Lakeminster Park Ltd) to do the right thing.”

Yesterday Mr Flannigan said they had emailed the council 14 times and been ignored, but was again trying to set up a meeting. He said: “The residents were all told in the beginning it was not a residential park. It is advertised as a holiday park and they have a holiday agreement. But I want a solution. I am really concerned for the people on the park. They don’t know how they stand and it’s frightening them.”

Planning permission was given to Flannigan Enterprises Ltd in 2006 for 169 “park homes for holiday use”.

Conditions state that homes “shall not be occupied as a person’s sole or main place of residence” and are for “holiday purposes only”. However the site licence states: “All park homes shall be used for human habitation all year round and for holiday use only”.