Councillors have slapped a 10pm curfew on a Crieff holiday cottage hot tub after neighbours complained about noisy sex talk across the fence.
Owner Gavin Roberts had applied for a three-year short-term let licence for Ruby’s Cottage.
However, councillors agreed to license the property for one year only.
And that comes with a condition that holiday-makers must be out of the hot tub – and the garden – by 10pm.
It follows objections from residents, who claim the hot tub is attracting the wrong kind of guests.
Next door neighbour Celia Whitehead told Perth and Kinross Council’s licensing committee the sessions can go on to 3.30am, and are usually accompanied by loud music from bluetooth speakers.
“The hot tub seems to attract a type of clientele that is there to party,” she said.
“The conversations we can hear are frequently of a sexual nature, and totally unacceptable to what I want to listen to.
“If I’m in the garden there is no escaping them.”
Mrs Whithead said hen parties were particularly problematic, and could start as early as 8am.
She said neighbours had called the police, and she had been physically assaulted when she tried to challenge guests.
I am at the point of wishing my life to end.
And she said she has had bottles, condoms and abuse hurled into her garden.
In her letter of objection to the council, Mrs Whitehead said Ruby’s Cottage had ruined her and her husband’s dream of a peaceful retirement.
“I am at the point of wishing my life to end,” she wrote.
Crieff holiday cottage ‘not aimed at hen parties’
Ruby’s Cottage has been operating as a holiday cottage for two years.
It’s one of the most popular Crieff properties on booking sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
Mr Roberts, who runs a plumbing business, said it was occupied for 51 weeks out of 52 last year. It is already 25% booked for 2024.
He said the hot tub was a big selling point. But he said its location in Crieff, and the fact it welcomes pets, were also a draw.
And he insisted 80% of the holidaymakers who stayed there were families.
“When the cottage was first put up, for some reason there was a lot of hen dos,” he said.
“But since them we have put the price up considerably and that has cut out that sort of clientele.
“We don’t want that either.”
Mr Roberts said he had installed high fencing around the property at his own expense, to protect the privacy of neighbours and guests.
And he insisted he had had no direct complaints from residents, or from the letting company he uses to manage Ruby’s Cottage.
But, pressed by the committee, he said it was “disappointing” to hear police had been called.
Councillors agreed to the one-year licence, with curfew, after hearing from Mrs Whitehead that it would be a “reasonable” compromise.
The condition states that the garden ground and hot tub must not be used for socialising and amplified music after 10pm.
Conversation