Highland Council’s controversial short term let control zone for Badenoch and Strathspey came into force at noon today (940324) as it remains unclear at this point if it will face legal challenge.
The strath will be just the second part of Scotland to adopt the designation following on from Edinburgh where the city’s council has faced and partly lost legal action in Scotland’s highest civil court from short term let operators.
ASSC Response:
Fiona Campbell, CEO of the ASSC, said:
“The Highland Council has thankfully taken on board the outcome of second Judicial Review and recognises that the Planning Control Area cannot be applied retrospectively. However, hundreds of businesses have needlessly applied for planning permission, with significant associated costs, when they simply didn’t need to.
Regrettably, the Scottish Government appears to be content to strangle small indigenous businesses whilst concurrently cutting the housing budget by £200m. It is difficult to assess how either will ameliorate the housing crisis. Indeed, on the contrary, evidence suggests that it will merely damage tourism irreparably and exacerbate the number of second homes across our rural communities.”