THE long-running saga of Nude Dunes at La Pulente has taken a fresh twist.
The Planning Department has alleged it is being used as a home and issued an order to stop.
The former restaurant closed not long after opening, with the owner Nadia Miller subsequently requesting to turn the site into self-catering accommodation.
Environment Minister Steve Luce upheld the Planning Committee’s refusal of the scheme, which featured plans to remodel the existing restaurant into a beach café, enclose the south-western terrace, and convert the majority of the building into a two-bedroom unit of self-catering holiday accommodation.
Speculation has persisted that the site is being used as a family home, although – to date – this has not been proven. Planning launched an investigation this July following claims that Nude Dunes was being used for residential purposes.
And, the government’s regulation team has ordered it stop being used as a home by October, while a second enforcement notice has been issued against the owner of the former restaurant for erecting “a modular building and wooden fence”.
Planning claims the building was constructed without the appropriate consents.
Concerning the residential unit, the notice states: “The conversion of an existing building (non-traditional) for private residential use, outside the built-up area and within the Coastal Protection Zone, without sufficient justification, is not supported by the Bridging Island Plan 2022.
“The development introduces housing outside of the built-up area without justification and privatises a site within the Coastal Protection Area and Coastal National Park. The development challenges elements of the land designations core purpose and character.”
The notice says the site must not be used for residential use and gives two months for compliance, from 7 August.
The second notice demands the removal of the “modular building”, the wooden fence and “resultant debris and materials”, again, within two months from 7 August.
