Thursday September 3rd 2026
Rhodes Cottages, Lime Grove, North Berwick, are at centre of new short term let application
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Residents living in a small group of seaside cottages say they are being taken over by short term holiday lets and people who are ‘just here for a good time’.
People living in Rhodes Cottages, North Berwick, are appealing to East Lothian licensing chiefs to refuse a licence for a third house in their ‘small enclave’ to begin operating as a holiday let.
They say two of the eight cottages which sit in the quiet street are already used as short term lets leading to drunken disturbance and late night noise as ‘hundreds of strangers’ pass through their tiny community each year.
And they point out that allowing a third cottage to become a holiday home will could mean there are more holidaymakers than residents in the street at any given time with the short term properties converted to two bedrooms, while the residential cottages remain one bedroom.
One resident said: “Rhodes Cottages is a small, quiet enclave of only eight homes. The addition of a third (STL) would create a tipping point that is frankly unsustainable.
“We have already dealt with the reality of frequent, unpredictable turnover. We have faced recurring issues with noise, late night disturbances and antisocial behaviour from guests who treat the area as a holiday destination rather than a residential neighbourhood.”
Another resident added : “The turnover of transient visitors is detrimental to the character, privacy and safety of our street. There is also the problem of the potential disturbance caused by people who are just “here for a good time” regardless of their behaviour on the neighbours.”
While another told the licensing board in their objection: “You have disabled and elderly residents in some of the cottages, the council has a duty of care towards them and their safety.”
The application for a change of use for the cottage has been lodged by a Dundee based company named as GACDAN Ltd.
It will be heard by the council’s licensing sub committee next week.
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