Board Meeting - February 2022

This document contains the agenda for the Cairngorms National Park Authority Board meeting on 25 February 2022, at 1.45pm, via video conferencing. The agenda includes welcome, apologies, declarations of interest, a decision regarding the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) response to Highland Council for a short term let control area for Badenoch and Strathspey, any other business (AOB), and the date and venue of the next meeting, which will be 25 March 2022 in the Spey/Dee meeting rooms, CNPA headquarters, Grantown-on-Spey.

This document contains a summary of the Highland Council's plans for a Short Term Let Control Area covering Badenoch and Strathspey, as well as the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (Park Authority) proposed response to the formal consultation. The Park Authority welcomes the Highland Council's proposals, as it believes this will help manage the availability of housing for people working in the National Park in the long term. Also, it acknowledges the implications for the Park Authority when acting as the planning authority and supports continued collaboration between officers and Highland Council colleagues on the development of more detailed planning policy to accompany the plans. The creation of the Short Term Let Control Area would mean that using a dwellinghouse for secondary letting would be considered a 'material change of use,' which requires planning approval, but it's not a ban on short term letting.

This document contains a statement of reasons from the Highland Council and the Cairngorms National Park Authority for establishing a Short Term Let Control Area across Badenoch and Strathspey. Websites like Airbnb have caused a rise in houses and flats being used for temporary holiday accommodation. The council is concerned about the number of houses and flats being lost to this sector, which restricts housing for full-time residents and increases local house prices. The Town and Control Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 gives the Council the power to designate a Short Term Let Control Area. Once established, the use of a dwellinghouse for secondary letting will require planning approval, but it is not a ban on short-term lets. The boundary of the Short Term Let Control Area follows the Ward 20 Boundary Line and includes the Highland Council area within the Cairngorms National Park.