A DAD who builds luxury cabins in his garden has entered into a two year battle with the local council who want to tear them down. John Phillips built the four chalets in his garden in the Gower, South Wales , in 2022, to rent out on Airbnb for up to £185 a night. The 39-year-old has since been ordered to demolish the four cabins with hot tubs after losing a two year planning battle .
Swansea Council turned down his retrospective planning application in July last year and sent him an enforcement notice four months later. It said he had to stop renting them and demolish them and tidy up the land within six months. John did not have the correct planning permission for the pods in Landimore which overlook the Wales Coast Path and Loughor Estuary.
Read more Money News John then appealed the refusal decision and the enforcement notice but now a government-appointed planning inspector has dismissed both appeals . So now he finally has to take them down. But he was granted 12 months, rather than the original six, to comply with the order to demolish and restore the site.
The inspector, Richard Duggan, accepted more time was needed to cancel bookings at the high demand chalets. Most read in Money John, who says he intends to fight the case in court , called the order “madness”. He said: “It’s really unfair - it’s one rule for us and another for everyone else.
“They [the council] have just awarded a house in our village permission to build a ten room Airbnb. John, who ren.