Landowner fights to save 'countryside cabin'

A SANQUHAR landowner is fighting to save a countryside cabin after planning officials rejected his application for retrospective permission for the second time. Tony Campbell has lodged an appeal with Dumfries and Galloway Council’s local review body after planning officers refused his bid to retain a timber cabin for recreational use on land near Clenries Farm, which is just over two miles north-east of Sanquhar. Councillors on the local review body panel will consider the case on Tuesday, May 19. The cabin, which sits on approximately 5500 square metres of open countryside beside an old reservoir, is finished in timber with a black shingle roof and double-glazed windows. It is not connected to mains water, electricity, or sewage — with water drawn from a burn on the site and stored in a tank, and a small septic tank installed for waste water. This is the second time the application has been refused. A previous bid in 2023 was also rejected on the same grounds — that the cabin failed to comply with local planning policy and did not meet the definition of a “hut” under Scotland’s National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4). Under NPF4, a hut must have an internal floor area of no more than 30 square metres. Council planning officer Joshua Scott concluded that the cabin measures 30.9m2 internally and therefore falls outside the definition. The application was also refused on the grounds that it failed to comply with local development plan policy ED9 on tourism, as it did not extend an existing tourist site, support a tourist attraction, convert a traditional building, or create new groups of accommodation. Mr Campbell’s agent, Planning by Design, is challenging both grounds of refusal. On the floor area dispute, the appeal argues that insulation installed in the bedroom walls should be deducted from the measurements, bringing the internal floor space to 29.9m2 — just within the 30m2 limit. On the tourism policy issue, the agent argues the cabin was never intended for tourism at all, but purely for the owner’s personal recreation. The agent’s appeal states: “The appellant respectfully submits that the proposed development represents a sustainable, modest, and policy-compliant development, which satisfies the definition of the hut as per NPF4. “The refusal issued by Dumfries and Galloway Council is founded primarily on the non-compliance of the definition of the hut and non-compliance with national and local planning policy. “The appellant has provided detailed and robust responses to all of the council’s refusal reasons.” No objections were received from the public, roads authority, or contaminated land officer during the application process. Councillors will weigh up all arguments before making a final decision.