Monday August 25th 2025
Holiday flat on Musselburgh's beach front
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A bid to keep an East Lothian holiday flat operating has been rejected by councillors – after they had to apologise to neighbours about the noise they made during a visit.
A meeting of East Lothian Council’s Local Review Body heard the operator of the top floor flat on Musselburgh’s beach front had argued its use was ‘no different’ to if it was a residential home.
However elected members who visited the property ahead of making a decision said the noise created by the door banging behind them as they left had led to them having to apologise.
Alan Montgomery appealed to the Local Review Body after planning officers refused to grant permission for a change of use of the flat to a short term let, which it has been used as for three years.
A report on the flat’s history revealed it had been visited by police four times during its use, including one occasion when officers found 20 people in the small flat holding a party.
And during a meeting of the local authority’s licensing chiefs last year it was claimed by neighbours the property was a ‘party flat’ with one saying one guest couple “decided to have sex so vigorously and loudly in the living room of the flat that they caused the (downstairs neighbour’s) clock to fall off the wall and it was damaged.”
Despite this Mr Montgomery was granted an 18 month licence after agreeing to make changes to ensure there were no future disturbances.
He argued that the decision to grant the licence should have supported his application for the change of use.
At the Local Review Body meeting last Thursday, councillors raised concerns about the noise they had made simply by going up and down the concrete stairs in the shared communal area of the flats and the bang of the door.
Councillor Kenny McLeod said: “We had to apologise to the other tenants in the building for our use of the flat because the door did bang behind us.”
Fellow councillor Liz Allan added: “It is clearly a residential block and I don’t see it being an appropriate use for a short term let.
“It was particularly noticeable how loud it was going up the communal concrete stairs and the door banging. People coming and going would make a lot of noise.”
Fellow local review body member Councillor Donna Collins said the recorded visits by the police had ‘knocked it on the head’ for her.
She said: “I am normally sympathetic with short term lets and local businesses trying to make a living but this application is a wee bit different. This is the first application I have seen where there has actually been police activity with four visits to that premises due to disturbance to all the neighbours all about.”
Mr Montgomery had applied for a retrospective change of use of the flat to a short term let after he was refused a Certificate of Lawfulness by planners and lost an appeal to Scottish Ministers.
Planners refused the application saying the holiday use was “incompatible with and harmful to ” the amenity of other residents in the block.
The review body unanimously rejected the appeal.
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