Furious villagers have gone to war with their neighbours over their newly converted holiday let, claiming they can see naked guests roaming around the house through its 18ft window.
The neighbourhood row has disturbed the peace in the idyllic Welsh village of Penisarwaun, in Gwynedd, where a ‘horrendous’ giant window was added to the property without planning permission.
The holiday home now features a large gable end window overlooking a country lane and a nearby property.
It is only accessible by a narrow road and is advertised as a ‘haven of tranquillity’ nestled in the heart of the countryside.
The conversion has sparked outrage from neighbours who claim the their lives have become a ‘misery’.
Janet Gayther, 82, whose home is overlooked by the giant window, told The Sun that she often sees guests without any clothes on.
‘I’ve seen all sorts,’ she said. ‘People coming out and getting in the hot tub without clothes. I’ve driven past in the car and visitors have been sprawled out in the nude on the sofa.’
The great grandmother, who has lived in the neighbouring property for more than 50 years, also accused holidaymakers of climbing in and out of the bath on the mezzanine and making a racket in the hot tub, adding: ‘It’s making my life a misery at times.’
Neighbours claim that the bright lights inside make the holiday home shine ‘like Blackpool illuminations’, while they also say they have had visitors knocking on their door at 1am trying to find it.
Earlier this year, police were called to the property when a lost couple had a heated argument, seemingly because they could not locate the house.
Other locals told The Sun that they believe the luxury hot tub is playing a key role in provoking the bad behaviour and that guests often leave behind litter when they check-out.
revealed on Thursday that the property developer was refused permission to open his holiday let after backlash from locals over the new 18ft window.
Although the home was initially recommended for approval in January, a wave of objections from locals came over the ‘disrespect’ of fitting the tall window.
Planners have now rejected backdated permission for the development.
Local councillor Elwyn Jones said the development had proceeded ‘without any kind of planning application and affected several nearby properties.’
‘The message here is, if you are uncertain, then do it anyway, don’t respond, and everything will go through in the end,’ he said. ‘That is what I see from this.’
‘I saw the original building, and this is certainly not at the original height – there is no way to prove that now because the development has been completed.
‘Should a usual application have come in with this, due to its location and the building, I’m almost certain it would have been refused.’
Cllr Gruff Williams added: ‘When it came up last time, we didn’t ask for a pair of curtains, we asked for them to block off windows to avoid overlooking – the developer does not care about our decisions.’
Cllr Louise Hughes noted that the developer ‘just went ahead anyway disregarding the planning process’.
‘He also ignored concerns of local people living next door. I was at the site visit and quite frankly that window is absolutely enormous and out of character,’ she said.
‘What sort of message does this send out? “Don’t worry because the planning committee will pass it anyway”.
‘Yes, OK, I suppose it is within planning policy but it’s the integrity of this decision, he’s not made any movement to sort out the problems. I am not happy, it is a lack of respect for planning process and the planning committee.’
Cllr Gareth Jones agreed, adding: ‘I visited the site. That large window is horrendous. I don’t know how it can be approved. It is massive. It does have a significant impact on amenities. It is obtrusive.’
Cllr Hughes said: ‘It might be within the rules but is it morally right?’
‘He has shown a lack of respect for every aspect of the planning application.
‘It sends a message out there [to] do what you want, stake your claim, build what you like, let’s have a drive-in McDonald’s while you are at it.’
The committee voted on December 9, with five in favour of refusal and four against.
A Cyngor Gwynedd spokesperson told The Sun: ‘At a meeting of the Gwynedd Planning Committee held on 9 December, a retrospective application to convert an outbuilding to holiday let at Plas Coch, Penisarwaun was refused due to the fact that the development is contrary to policy PCYFF 3 of the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Local Development Plan 2011-2026.
‘It was deemed the development would have an adverse effect on residential amenities and the gable windows would cause an over-looking and an intrusive effect on neighbouring properties.
‘The Council’s Planning Service has written to the applicant to inform him of the committee’s decision and is investigating the matter further.’
has contacted the council and the holiday home’s business for comment.