Planning permission has been submitted to turn a block of public toliets in Beer into a holiday home.

If approved, the toliet block on Beer Causeway will be knocked down and a replacement building for use as a single self-contained holiday let will be built in its place.

The building is small scale, single storey bunker design building. Its materials are not used elsewhere in the conservation area and its current poor state of repair is largely due to years of dereliction and minimal maintenance. Over the course of preparing this application, many locals have commented favourably on developing the site. 

This proposal seeks approval to replace the former toilet block with a new two storey building for use as a self-contained holiday let unit. The proposed building will be nestled into the surrounding rock outcrop so that much of the building will be screened to the sides; as does the existing toilet block.

The proposed layout is „upside-down living‟ with entrance hall, bedroom and shower room on the ground floor, and an open plan kitchen/living room under a vaulted ceiling with multiple roof lights and a window in each side elevation to provide plenty of natural light.

The new building will be made up of local chert stone ground floor walls with timber board cladding to upper sections of wall to add detail and help break up the façades. The roof is to be finished with slate with flush fitting rooflights. The windows are to be timber frame. These materials conform with those stated in the Beer Conservation Appraisal and the Beer Neighbourhood Plan.

In response to Parish Council concerns over the disruption to the local area during the construction phase mentioned in previous applications, the building will be largely constructed off-site using prefabricated highly insulated timber frame panels. These can be erected very quickly on-site, limiting disruption to the highway and the surrounding properties.

Plans have been submitted to East Devon District Council, it will be approved or refused. Read the full application on the EDDC website - 23/1268/FUL