The new owners of a Blairgowrie holiday park are working with lodge owners and Perth and Kinross Council to find a resolution after claims owners were misled into believing they could stay in their lodges permanently.
In September 2024 Perth and Kinross Council issued six lodges – and the previous owners Heritage Park Estates – with enforcement notices due to the alleged breach of planning rules.
This week the Scottish Government rejected lodge owners’ appeals and upheld Perth and Kinross Council’s decision; an enforcement notice for one holiday lodge was withdrawn by PKC in November 2024.
The affected lodge owners have been given until the end of 2026 to provide the council with a main/permanent address.
In September 2022 planning permission was granted for 19 holiday accommodation units and a reception building at Bendochy Broiler Farm, now known as Bendochy Park.
A planning condition stated that: “The units hereby approved are to be used for holiday accommodation only and may not be occupied as a permanent or main residence.”
But in August 2023 the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld a complaint that a national press advert for the park in April 2023 was misleading.
The advert included the headline “YOUR DREAM HOME BUILT YOUR WAY” and said the park was “OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR” as well as several other references to the units being “homes”.
The advertising watchdog said: “The ASA considered that consumers would understand from the ad that the units available could be used as a main residence.
“However, we understood that the units at Bendochy Park were only licensed as holiday homes, which under the terms of that licensing could not be used as a sole or main residence. The ad did not include any information to make that clear, or counteract the impression that it could be used as a “home”.
“Because consumers were likely to understand from the ad that the units advertised could be used as main residences when that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”
In September 2024, PKC issued enforcement notices to the company which owned the holiday park – and has since gone into liquidation – and the owners of six lodges who were believed to be using them as their sole permanent place of residence. One enforcement notice was subsequently withdrawn by the council in November 2024 and four were appealed.
However this week the reporter – appointed by Scottish Ministers to review the council’s planning enforcement decision – said the “alleged mis-selling of the accommodation unit” was outside the scope of the appeal and that “there is a public interest in remedying the planning harm caused by the breach of planning control”.
She added: “I note that the appellants would need to revise their living arrangements as a result of complying with the notice. While I recognise the potential difficulties and upheaval associated with this, I also acknowledge the extended timescale of 31 December 2026 allowed for by the council to comply with the notice.”
Following the issuing of the appeal decisions on Wednesday, January 8, Perthshire Lodge Company – which recently took ownership of the holiday park – said it will work with both the council and lodge owners to resolve the matter.
A spokesperson for Perthshire Lodge Company said: “We have been running the business as per the council’s instruction and as per planning rules.”
He added: “We’re not in the business of making people homeless. We’re trying to get a resolution.”
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser has called for a tightening up of legislation around holiday park accommodation. He is also frustrated the council’s Trading Standards team could not pursue a case due to the developers going into liquidation.
The Conservative MSP said: “I appreciate that the dismissal of these appeals will cause real concern for the affected residents at Bendochy, but the planning position here is clear, that these properties never had permission for use as permanent residences.
“There are very serious issues here about the alleged mis-selling of these properties to the residents. I previously raised this with the Trading Standards department in Perth, who were pursuing a case against the park owners, and it is hugely frustrating that this case has had to be dropped due to the transfer in ownership of the park and the liquidation of the original developers.
“All this highlights the weakness in current laws around park homes – a growing sector in the housing market. I have been engaging with both SCOPHRA – the Scottish Confederation of Park Home Residents Associations – and the Housing Minister in the Scottish Government, and this work is
ongoing. We have to see greater protections for those buying these homes.”
Several Perth and Kinross Council departments are working to resolve the situation.
A PKC spokesperson said: “The council’s Trading Standards, Environmental Health and Development Management Teams hope to work with the new owners to resolve the current issues on the site.
“Enforcement notices have been served on a number of properties requiring that they are not used as permanent residences, as per the terms of the planning permission, and this will assist in highlighting to other prospective occupants of the situation. Reflective of the sensitivity of the situation, a longer compliance period than would normally be the case – until the end of December 2026 – is in place to help support existing residents. A number of these Enforcement notices have been appealed to the Scottish Government DPEA [Planning and Environmental Appeals Division] and we have now had confirmation that the appeals have been dismissed.”