Whitby B&B owner to build 'large' holiday let called 'Hidden House' after councillors give green light

Mr B Truman’s proposal to build a large three-bed holiday let at Netherby House, 90 Coach Road, in Sleights near Whitby has been approved by North Yorkshire Council.

The large (188 sqm) single-storey property, which has been named “Hidden House”, will be built in a semi-rural area near Sleights C of E Primary School.

According to submitted plans, the Truman family has owned and operated Netherby House as a bed and breakfast accommodation since around 1999.

The business is run as a collection of single-let holiday rooms and the applicant said that the “extensive gardens to the rear are currently underutilised and remote from the holiday rooms”.

The new property has been conceived as “a discrete, low-energy, low-impact building, nestled within the existing gardens and intended to become fully integrated into the landscape”.

No objections were raised by Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby Parish Council or the Highway Authority “on the understanding that the property will remain ancillary to the main dwelling”.

One public objection was made by a neighbouring resident who said there was “sufficient existing tourist accommodation on-site” and also highlighted that a “previous development on the site was dismissed on appeal”.

But a council report stated that two prior dismissed appeals had occurred before the current Local Plan and the national planning policy framework came into effect and noted that officers had to decide on the application “in accordance with existing frameworks and legislation”.

The council’s environmental health department recommended conditions regarding the hours of construction and delivery and dust control to protect the amenity of neighbouring properties.

However, officers decided that existing legislation was “sufficient in controlling these measures”.

Planners said that the development would form a discreet addition to the countryside and would “appropriately supplement the existing hotel accommodation”.

They added that the proposal would not adversely impact the area, and would have a positive impact in contrast to the existing stand-alone structures that would be removed as part of the scheme.

The application was approved by North Yorkshire Council, subject to conditions, on Thursday, August 22.