Laundry basket, beds and birthday cards see Nude Dunes appeal dismissed

A laundry basket, beds, birthday cards, and a computer were some of the reasons why an independent planning inspector concluded that the former Nude Dunes restaurant was being used as a home, it has emerged.

What was once a coastal café at La Pulente had, by the time inspectors paid a visit in June, began to look less like somewhere you’d order a coffee and more like somewhere you might check your emails, eat your dinner, and get into bed.

On 10 June 2025, a planning officer watched a person leave the building accompanied by three children, carrying a laundry basket. And that single detail proved to be the start of a much longer list.

Subsequent inspections uncovered beds, domestic furniture and personal belongings inside the shuttered restaurant. There were sofas, a long dining table, a computer workstation, and even birthday cards on display.

Site owner Nadia Miller accepted there had been occasional overnight stays, but insisted these were purely for security purposes. Planning inspector Sue Bell was unconvinced.

“Even were I to accept that an overnight stay for security reasons was necessary, the nature and character of a stay by a family group is not the same as that arising from having a professional security guard on site,” she wrote in her report.

“Overnight stays by family groups are more characteristic of a residential setting.”

Ms Miller claimed that beds had been placed inside to “dress” the building for potential buyers to provide an illustration of how it might look if permission were granted to convert it to holiday accommodation.

But the planning inspector did not accept this, noting: “The authorised use of the building is a café/restaurant and so there can be little benefit in dressing it in a manner more typical of residential/ domestic use.”

The internal layout that the inspector observed was described as resembling an open-plan living space rather than a food venue – with sofas, a long dining table, a computer workstation, and personal effects such as birthday cards.

The report read: “The main internal ‘public’ area of the café/restaurant was set out in a manner that would be more consistent of a domestic setting rather than a café/restaurant.

“Whilst sofas and easy chairs are commonly found in some cafés, the limited number and orientation of these combined with the table arrangement (a single, long table, with few seating places) seems unsuited for a commercial café.

“Additionally, there was a workstation, with computer. Whilst some cafés offer access to computers there is usually more than one machine available.

“I also saw various personal items including a display of birthday cards. In summary, the arrangement appeared one of an open-plan living space, more typical of a residential setting.”

The inspector said residential use does not require someone to live there every night, or for it to be their only home, before concluding that the building was being used as a self-contained residential unit without permission.

On that basis, the appeal was dismissed and the enforcement notice upheld.

A second appeal, relating to the installation of a tall wooden fence and a modular storage pod at the site, was also rejected.

While the owner argued that both were temporary and necessary for security and maintenance, the inspector said neither qualified as permitted development – particularly given the site’s location within the Coastal National Park, where planning controls are at their strictest.

The planning inspector acknowledged that the property had been the “subject of hostile publicity” with “instances of unauthorised access and vandalism”, but explained that the installation of a fence would require planning permission.

The Environment Minister accepted the inspector’s recommendations in full, ruling that there were no grounds to depart from her findings.

As a result, both enforcement notices stand, with compliance required by 18 February 2026.

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