# The Firs Country Park, West End Road, Boston (workshop to holiday let)

- **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
- **Tags:** tier-2, limited-nppf-engagement, flood-risk, fallback, costs-application, parties-consulted-on-2026-framework

## 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
- **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
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/comment-planning-appeal/appeals/6010342
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/published-document/7387af35-c6cb-410a-a6ab-d7002c913542

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Source: https://planningdistilled.org/research/england/nppf-navigator/decisions/PINS-6010342.html

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