Tree house set for the chop?
THE owners of a large rustic wooden cabin built in woodland near Llansteffan could be forced to tear it down because there is no planning permission for it.
Carmarthenshire Council is understood to be involved in a planning enforcement case against the owners of the “offgrid” cabin.
The cabin owner Glynn May bought the land from Woodlands.co.uk, built the cabin five years ago and lives there with his family.
He said he never applied for planning permission for the cabin because there was no suitable planning option to meet his needs to “live as ecologically sound as possible”.
At the start of December, the three-bedroom cabin was listed by several estate agent websites as being up for grabs as part of a sale of approximately 17 acres of land for £150,000.
Mr May maintains it was made clear in the listing from the outset that there was no planning permission attached to the cabin.
The cabin and land were available to view on major property web portal Rightmove.co.uk along with other sites.
The particulars also noted there are solar panels and a small wind turbine for power with battery storage and wood for heating and cooking, along with a compost toilet in the woods and rainwater harvesting.
Locally, the potential sale was being handled by estate agent Homesforsal e Inwestwales. co. uk which has offices in Cardigan and Newcastle Emlyn.
However within days the property was taken down from its site and all other property portal sites at the request of Mr May and listed as “removed by the agent” on Rightmove. co.uk and others.
Despite being marked as removed, the listing can still be seen on Rightmove.co.uk with several caveats stating that “there is no formal planning to live onsite”.
The listing reiterated several times in capital letters that “there is no planning to live on this site.”
Adding: “You cannot live here without the necessary consents”, and clearly stating “take note therefore that what any potential buyer is buying is simply around 17 acres of woodland and pastureland.”
All of the listings were amended to state Carmarthenshire Council’s intention to serve enforcement action and read: “The council has indicated, in writing to us, that enforcement action to remove the structures is imminent, as at 3/12/2020.”
Chair of Carmarthenshire Council’s planning committee, councillor Alun Lenny, said anyone who erected a building or carried out construction without relevant planning permission being granted, risked action being taken against them.
He added: “Any development built without planning permission or which does not seek retrospective planning permission is always open to be challenged with enforcement action from the county council.”
Mr May said: “I didn’t apply for planning permission when we built the
cabin because there weren’t any suitable planning options for us to live off grid and as ecologically sound as possible.”
Mr May confirmed he has received a letter from Carmarthenshire Council outlining the authority’s intention to take enforcement action against the cabin.
He said: “I expect that action to be taken in January but there are several options I am looking at.”
Mr May said one of those options is the ‘Fouryear Rule’.
This allows someone to make a formal application for a certificate to determine whether their unauthorised use or development can become lawful through the passage of time - rather than compliance with space standards – and can continue without the need for planning permission.
Mr May added: “There’s a bigger issue here than us and our cabin, this is about finding a way with councils to help people live the way they want to.
“We can’t live ecologically under the current planning system and conversations need to happen to look at ways of allowing people to do that.
“We don’t want to fight the council, we want to change the way the planning system works.”