The owner of a garden room built within the grounds of a 200-year-old listed cottage has been ordered to tear it down. Homeowner Kenneth Walker did not get planning permission for the building first and has been told by the council that it has to go because it is blocking neighbours' views and light.
The council has rejected his appeal against the decision to refuse retrospective planning permission after hearing complaints from neighbours who were concerned about a loss of privacy, its size and plans to use the cottage and garden room as a holiday let. Mr Walker said he bought the cottage a few years ago in a state of disrepair and had not realised he needed planning permission for the garden room because it replaced a previous one which had to be taken down.
He insisted it was within the height measurements allowed denying claims it was intrusive or blocking light from neighbour’s homes. Councillors in East Lothian were told at a recent review meeting that five objections had been raised by local residents, with one neighbour telling officers she had to shut her blinds when caring for her baby because it overlooked her windows, EdinburghLive reports.
She said: “It is so intrusive that we have had to shut the blinds during the day while I have been breastfeeding, eating and playing with my young child.”
Another objector said: “Putting a McDonalds right next to the Taj Mahal would be a simile to demonstrate how alien this ‘garden room’ looks against the old cottage next to it.”
Review body chair, Councillor Donna Collins raised concerns about the fact the cottage was advertised as a short-term holiday let ‘for £240 a night’. And she said a site visit to the cottages had given members of the review body a clear understanding of the impact of the garden room.
Councillor Collins said: “When we visited the sun was in the right spot and showed it was blocking light from neighbouring properties and the decking has been raised quite high so people sitting outside would be looking into neighbours' windows.”
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Fellow review body member Councillor John McMillan added: “This is a beautiful set of cottages which create an impressive entrance to the golf course and in my view it (the garden room) is completely out of keeping with it.”
The review body unanimously voted to reject the appeal The original refusal gives the applicant three months to remove the garden room and associated decking, or face enforcement action.
