A dad who built a £100k luxury treehouse without planning permission, fearing he would never see it due to a cancer diagnosis, has finally been told he won't have to tear it down.
John Kitson successfully received retrospective planning permission for his 'Cornish treehouse' near Looe, Cornwall, on January 4.
The dad-of-three had built the luxury holiday accommodation as a means of financing an estate he manages - but feared he would never see it completed due to a shock eye cancer diagnosis at just 42.
He later admitted he was a 'silly bugger' for ignoring planning regulations but says he is delighted after being given a retrospective green light.
The treehouse is a modern, elevated wooden structure with WiFi available from £195 a night, advertised as a "cosy couples' retreat".
John, a former suits salesman, has long maintained that he regrets making life 'difficult' for the local planning office - especially after being told his diagnosis was not as severe as first thought.
Despite not seeking planning permission, he claims that he did consult locals on the build - meeting no real opposition.
He says he's "one happy boy" after the application was approved with conditions on January 3.
John said: "It's very encouraging and a very rewarding thing to do and we've got lots of happy faces visiting.
"We've also received a lot of emails of support since the planning application went in.
"I spoken to my tenants before I started building, and explained what I planned to make. They didn't have any issues with it.
"People here see it and see the effort, a lot of locals know people who worked on the treehouse.
"I tried to use local businesses, like a former tree surgeon I know who made the bed and sink for the treehouse for example.
"I genuinely believe in the sustainability agenda, and so we designed the treehouse to incorporate a lot of local wood that we had to fell due to a rather unpleasant tree disease.
"It's designed to give minimum possible impact to the local area and the environment, we used no concrete for example.
"If you are building a house, you know exactly what you're going to do before you do it. This was a bit like painting a picture.
"You know what you want in the end, but you don't quite know how you're going to get there. I wanted to chop, change, adapt and rebuild to make it perfect."
Locals had until December to comment on the unapproved build - seemingly vindicating John's claims of support.
Over 20 members of the public also wrote to Cornwall Council to comment on the build, with comments generally being positive.
One local resident noted: "I live in the parish and have a holiday letting cottage not far away, it's hard to make a living out of holiday letting.
"How good to see an innovative idea for tourism and from the visitors comments pays.
"I can see why visitors like it and it blends in well with the surroundings, can't be seen unless you know it's there.
"We are loosing holiday lets at an alarming rate locally. I hope this one gains officer support!"
Another individual who stayed in the treehouse wrote on December 8: "Having just stayed here, we found the place an absolute delight, it was very private, the interior was of a very high standard and I feel it is an asset to the estate and it's setting.
"It's not going to cause any traffic problems and will encourage a little more tourism to a much needed area, just wish there were more people to have the inspiration and innovative ideas to create such an amazing relaxing experience.
"It would be an absolute shame that any planning was revoked on this delightful treehouse."
John, a Morval parish councillor, built the treehouse - that has mains electricity and running water - on the Morval estate he manages during the pandemic.
John said: "We wanted to raise an income to try and raise money without asking our tenants on the estate to pay for site maintenance, especially with the cost of living and various tree diseases we've had on site.
"I just don't want to pass those costs on to tenants. We looked at a wind turbine, but that would have annoyed all the locals and would have been far more disruptive compared to this treehouse."
John had feared that he would never see the treehouse after a cancer diagnosis threatened to blind or even kill him within months - though this turned out to be incorrect.
Thankfully though he is now doing well, but still has to have an MRI scan every six months to check the cancer hasn't metastasised.
He said: "Thankfully my cancer is not as bad as I thought, I thought I had a secondary tumour somewhere on my pancreas but thankfully I'm in the clear.
"When I first got checked up I never thought it would be anything serious, but within days I was in London and then Liverpool for treatment.
"I admit it's not relevant for planning, but from a personal point of view it focuses your mind a bit if the worst did happen.
"I just didn't want to wait, I didn't want to f**k around waiting months for planners and not be able to see the finished build.
"It's a very weak justification and that doesn't justify what I've done but it was the reason for wanting to get on with it."
