Airbnb owner forced to tear down 40ft-high ‘monstrous prison camp watchtower' after furious neighbours complained
The "monstrous" structure was built at the £5,000-a-week holiday let in Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, without planning permission.
2
2
And fuming locals nearby say the eyesore addition is disturbing their day-to-day lives in a seaside town.
Planning permission for the towering "garden room" was turned down last year.
And neighbours are celebrating after another bid has now also been rejected by officials who say the tower must be removed.
Nearby neighbour Nick Whitmore, 35, who lives with his partner and three young children said their "dream home" had been marred by the platform and cabin.
Nick said: "It's advertised on Airbnb year-round, bringing noise, light pollution, and worse.
"The impact on my partner, our three children, and our neighbours is horrendous.
"The structure dominates our house and garden, as well as our neighbours'. It looks into my daughter's bedroom.
He added: "We are a local, hard-working family with three children under the age of 10.
"My partner and I worked very, very hard to buy our dream home, just up the road from the children's school, various public parks, with a bedroom for each of our children, and a nice garden for them to enjoy.
"This has now been taken away from us as we back onto a busy Airbnb and, since Jan 2024, a building site."
The holiday let was purchased by a Sheffield-based property owner in December 2023.
Neighbours reported the structure to the council and JAM Domestic Properties Ltd submitted a planning application - which was refused.
The owners had described the 'breathtaking' £700,000 four-bedroom property as 'the epitome of luxury '.
Nick said: "We alerted Conwy council who asked the company to stop work.
"They did, and submitted a retrospective planning application, which was refused in June 2024 after numerous neighbour objections.
"With no appeal by the 16 December 2024 deadline, we thought the council would follow through and move to enforce their own refusal.
"We assumed relief was near. Instead, two weeks ago, earlier in March 2025, the owner submitted a near-identical planning application.
"We've now endured over 15 months of this situation, with Conwy sitting on their hands while local families and residents suffer daily."
Families living next-door are furious at the13m high 'concrete plateau' giving clear views into their properties and blighting their lives.
Work on the tower - which would provide panoramic views of the village and neighbouring Penrhyn Bay - began last year, only to be paused when a planning application was turned down.
The holiday rental - called Gardd y Llys - is a contemporary property in one of the most upmarket residential areas of Rhos-on-Sea.
'OVERBEARING'
Neighbours Stephen and Hazel Walburn also wrote a letter of objection to the council.
"The cabin is 13m above our main living area and certainly feels to us to be out of character and overbearing," they wrote.
"Its scale and appearance are unlike other garden buildings in the area. It fails to enhance the local environment, commanding attention not unlike a prison camp watchtower."
They added: "It dominates the roofscape and is alien and incongruous."
Conwy council said: "An enforcement notice has been served which requires the removal of the structure."
The notice was served on 17 June and the developer has been given 10 weeks from that date to launch an appeal.
The application by JAM Domestic Properties read: "Views from the raised platform into neighbouring properties were recognised as being available from the initial planning consent.
"The proposed development is not considered to lead to an acceptable increase to this and is not considered to have a detrimental impact on privacy or residential amenity to neighbouring properties, and therefore would be acceptable on this basis."
A Conwy Council spokeswoman previously said: "Planning permission was granted in 2016 for a smaller garden structure on this site.
"In February 2024, it was brought to our attention that a larger outbuilding was being constructed.
"Following an investigation by the planning enforcement officer, the owners agreed to cease work and to submit a planning application to regularise the work.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business News Wales
an hour ago
- Business News Wales
Swansea Start-ups Named Among Best in Wales
Two Swansea start-up companies have been named among the best in Wales. At the regional finals of the UK Start-Up Awards, The Cusp won marketing, advertising and public relations start-up of the year, while Hannah Worth, of Bowla – a Bowl with a Roll – won young entrepreneur of the year. The Cusp has been supported by a website development grant and a business growth grant from Swansea Council via the UK Government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Bowla – a Bowl with a Roll – has been supported by a website development grant. Founded by Jess Hickman and Louise Rengozzi, The Cusp now has clients throughout the UK as well as in Abu Dhabi. Louise said: 'Winning this award is a huge milestone for us. It's a real sense of achievement and a sign that we're doing something right. 'Over the past two and a half years, we've made incredible progress, and that wouldn't have been possible without the support of Swansea Council's business advisors from the start. 'Their guidance, along with backing from the Shared Prosperity Fund, helped us grow with purpose, create local jobs and invest in people. We're super proud to be building something that supports careers and futures right here in Swansea.' Bowla – a Bowl with a Roll – is a micro bakery and lunch outlet based in Swansea Market. Hannah Worth, who founded the business with her father, said: 'To have my hard work recognised on a regional scale has been massive. It's made me reflect on the successes and pitfalls of building a business from scratch. I'm extremely grateful for all the support we've received from the council and our customers.' Both The Cusp and Hannah will now compete with other regional winners at the UK-wide award finals.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Tally of growth businesses selling up nears 8,000 in 10 years
The number of high-growth businesses choosing to sell up has hit almost 8,000 over the past ten years as founders sell their companies to corporates or float their enterprises on public markets. Acquisitions have accounted for the majority of business exits over the period, according to analysis by Charles Stanley, the investment management firm. Deals peaked in the year after the pandemic, with 1,110 acquisitions taking place. Corporate buyers accounted for 956 purchases and financial buyers for 154 purchases. The firm's research also found that almost 40 per cent of the exit activity has occurred in the last two and a half years. Cliadhna Law, head of direct and professional sales at Charles Stanley, said: 'Acquisitions remain the dominant form of exit, driven by both corporate and financial buyers, and IPOs, although less frequent, are important for high-growth firms seeking public capital and global visibility. 'A more stable exit landscape may be on the horizon, one defined by sustained acquisition activity and signs of a potential recovery in the IPO market. These changes reflect the UK's increasingly flexible approach to value realisation and the changing priorities of founders, investors, and buyers across the high-growth ecosystem.' The City is hopeful for a more sustained pick-up in company listings after it emerged Visma, a private equity-backed business software group, is considering a market debut in London. The group is based in Oslo, Norway, and has been valued at around €19 billion. Visma's potential listing comes after a number of large companies moved their listings away from London to New York, including Ashtead, the industrial equipment hire firm, Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power, CRH, the building materials supplier, and Ferguson, the plumbing group. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, told business leaders last month that there was a need to 'reset the psychology' and 'put aside British modesty and celebrate' the strengths of UK markets. In a speech in the City, he said: 'We have world-leading banking, insurance, derivatives, debt, foreign exchange and commodity markets and infrastructure. We lead Europe in fintechs and are second only to the US in investment management.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The conditions are just right for this airline owner to soar
Questor is The Telegraph's stock-picking column, helping you decode the markets and offering insights on where to invest. Even after soaring by 107pc since our initial 'buy' recommendation in February 2021, shares in British Airways owner IAG continue to trade on a dirt-cheap valuation. The FTSE 100-listed company, which also owns several other airlines including Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, has a price-to-earnings ratio of just 7.1 at a time when the UK's large-cap index trades very close to a record high. The firm's near-term financial forecasts do little to help justify its bargain basement price level. While investors may naturally expect such a lowly-valued stock to have a deteriorating bottom line, its earnings per share are set to rise by 12pc this year and by a further 8pc next year. Indeed, as a highly cyclical firm, IAG is well placed to benefit from the full effect of sustained monetary policy easing across its key markets of the US, Eurozone and the UK. Due to the existence of time lags, interest rate cuts enacted thus far by central banks in all three geographies are yet to have their maximum impact on economic growth or wage increases. And with sticky inflation widely expected to dissipate over the medium term, a likely continuation of recent monetary policy easing could lead to rising spending power among consumers that prompts higher demand for international air travel. In fact, passenger numbers for the global airline industry are forecast to rise by 5.8pc this year. They are also expected to double from their pre-pandemic level of four billion people per year to roughly eight billion people per year by 2040. With IAG having a well-diversified business model, it is in a relatively strong position to capitalise on an upbeat long-term industry outlook. Its portfolio of airlines equates to a greater variety of geographies covered and, perhaps more importantly, a wider range of price points vis-à-vis its rivals. For example, it is not limited to European budget short-haul operations as per some of its sector peers. A diverse range of operations could prove particularly useful should an uncertain outlook caused by the global trade war lead to temporary economic difficulties. Given that the firm had total liquidity of around €12.4bn (£10.5 bn) at the end of March this year, while net interest costs were covered more than eight times by operating profits last year, it is well placed to overcome the inherent ups-and-downs of the economic cycle. The company's latest quarterly results, meanwhile, showed that it continues to reinvest for long-term growth. As well as reporting a first-quarter rise in sales of 9.6pc and an operating profit of €198m, versus just €68m in the same period from the prior year, the firm announced that it has ordered 53 new wide-body aeroplanes. It also confirmed that it is making progress with a €1bn share buyback programme that was announced earlier this year. Share repurchases that are set to take place over the coming months should have a positive impact on the company's share price. Given its dirt-cheap market valuation, a share buyback programme appears to be a highly logical use of excess cash. While a dividend yield of just 2.2pc, alongside the company's highly cyclical status, means its income appeal is somewhat limited, fast-paced earnings growth could lead to a brisk pace of increase in shareholder payouts over the coming years. As mentioned, IAG's share price has more than doubled since our initial 'buy' tip in February 2021. In doing so, it has outperformed the FTSE 100 index by 82 percentage points. In the short run, the company's cyclical status means its shares could be severely affected by news updates regarding the ongoing global trade war. While this may equate to elevated volatility, Questor remains highly upbeat about the stock's long-term capital growth potential. This is largely due to the vast margin of safety offered by its shares. Investors appear to be materially undervaluing the firm's growth prospects as the impact of falling interest rates, as well as modest inflation, become more evident. With IAG having a solid financial position through which to overcome potential near-term challenges, and it reinvesting heavily ahead of a likely continued improvement in its industry outlook, the stock remains a worthwhile purchase. Questor says: buy Ticker: IAG Share price at close: 343.1p
