East Lothian councillors decide bees are not a good enough reason to justify new house
‘Allowing a new house in the countryside though has to be justified’ - Cllr Norman Hampshire
Councillors have rejected claims a new business requires 24/7 onsite care for its beehives and tourist huts.
Businessman John McCallum appealed after East Lothian planners refused to allow him to build a three bedroom house for his family on a former horse paddock so they could oversee shepherds’ huts and beehives planned as part of a new rural business.
He argued it would be necessary to provide onsite animal welfare for proposed new hives as well as overseeing three shepherds huts planned as holiday lets at the site at Boggs Holdings, near Pencaitland.
However a meeting of the council’s Local Review Body rejected his appeal over the decision after members were reminded of a snail farm which was allowed to build a house to oversee it some years earlier, and then went out of business while the home remained.
Review body members were told that planners considered the viability of the proposed business alongside the need for a permanent onsite home for a worker to ensure it did not fail, leaving another new house in the countryside.
And they ruled there was no need to have 24-hour care for the insects which their biodiversity officer warned were ‘not native to the UK’ and could impact native bees by out-competing them for food.
The business plan for the land included workshops which would offer classes on flower arranging and bouquet making as well as herb drying and the making of tinctures and tea blending and introducing those taking part to bee keeping, garden biodiversity and nature-based wellness.
Honey produced by the bees would also be sold as part of the business while the huts would be used as holiday accommodation.
Councillors unanimously rejected the appeal saying they did not believe there was a need for a house to run the business.
Review body convenor Norman Hampshire said: “I support having holiday accommodation in the countryside but we need to be really careful about how it comes about.
“Allowing a new house in the countryside though has to be justified and I do not think the business case here is a reason for it.”