- Decision
- allowed, 25 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: R Gee
- Authority
- Boston (East Midlands)
- Appeal reference
- 6010342
- Application reference
- B/25/0346
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use of an existing single-storey workshop to holiday let accommodation with external alterations and acoustic screening
- Site context
- open countryside, flood zone 3
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- P3
- Development plan policies
- South East Lincolnshire Local Plan 2019 Policies 2, 3, 9
- Main issues
- living conditions - noise; disturbance and privacy
Summary
A small holiday let converted from a workshop at a holiday lodge park near Boston. The council refused on neighbour noise and privacy. The inspector found the use no noisier than a house, with acoustic screening and the lawful workshop use as a fallback. Allowed, plan-led, with no Framework policy named in the reasoning.
Issues and findings
- Transition. "My decision reflects the latest version of the Framework, and the responses received on it" (DL ¶3).
- Living conditions: PASS. "Given the modest scale of the accommodation, which would be capable of accommodating only a very limited number of guests, I have no substantive evidence that the proposed use would give rise to noise and disturbance beyond that typically associated with a dwellinghouse" (DL ¶10).
- Flood risk, handled only in conditions. The site "could experience flood depths of 0.5 – 1.6m arising from a breach in the defences" (DL ¶23). "The Environment Agency consider that this is an acceptable measure to manage the risk of flooding to the holiday let" (DL ¶23): no winter occupation, resilience measures and an evacuation plan.
Planning balance
Plan-led: accords with the development plan as a whole (DL ¶28). No S5 category or balance was run.
What made the difference
Small scale, an acoustic wall and a noisy lawful fallback. On flood risk the Environment Agency's acceptance of seasonal closure was decisive.
Transferable points
- A very small holiday let generates no more noise than a dwelling; general complaints about a wider holiday park carry limited weight without evidence (DL ¶10, ¶16).
- Seasonal occupancy restrictions accepted by the Environment Agency were used to manage a "Danger to All" tidal breach hazard in Flood Zone 3 (DL ¶23). Treat with care: F5 and F7 were not engaged in terms.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| P3 | pass | mapped: small holiday let, 3.3 m wall, canopy and acoustic fence; oblique overlooking only; lawful workshop fallback; complaints about the wider park unevidenced; "Nor do I find conflict with the Framework insofar of its objective of protecting living conditions" (DL 9-18) | |
| F7(2) | pass | mapped: Flood Zone 3, future hazard "Danger to All"/"Danger to Most", breach depths 0.5-1.6 m; floor levels cannot be raised; EA accepts no occupation 1 Nov-14 Mar plus resilience and an evacuation plan, all conditioned; F5/F7 not named and no sequential test discussed (DL 23-24, conditions 4-6) | |
| E4 | benefit | mapped: more holiday accommodation choice and support for local tourism economy "supported by the Framework" (DL 19) |
Key facts
- Existing lodges at The Firs Country Park share the access; earlier dismissed appeal on an acoustic-barrier condition for 15 lodges distinguished (DL 5, 20)
- Holiday occupancy condition with register; wood-burner and noise management plan conditions refused as unnecessary (DL 22, 26-27)
- Costs application by the appellant subject of a separate decision (DL 2), not in the corpus
- Parties invited to comment on the August 2026 Framework (DL 3)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.