Dingwall decking dispute goes to a site visit
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COUNCILLORS will pay a visit to a Ross-shire homeowner to settle a wrangle over a long stretch of decking he built in his garden without planning permission.
Gordon Christie put up the 78ft platform without proper consent, sparking complaints from his neighbouring landowner at Mountrich Place in Dingwall.
Members of a planning committee are torn over the dispute and say a site visit is the way forward.
The matter was debated in Inverness on Tuesday by the north area planning applications committee.
Members were told that Mr Christie mistakenly looked at the UK rather than Scottish guidelines for planning permission applications and was ill-advised by the contractor building the decking, who said permission would not be needed.
But his neighbouring landowner Dr Daniel Murphy wrote to the council to complain. Dr Murphy, of Ardival East, Strathpeffer, secured planning permission in 2011 to build a house on the adjoining land to the south of Mr Christie’s property.
Mr Murphy expressed concern about the intrusive nature of the decking and loss of privacy to the future house he is building 16ft away.
The 8ft high decking towers above the 6ft high mutual boundary fence.
Dafydd Jones, area planning manager for the north, said Mr Christie had made an honest mistake but the committee should order him to remove the decking because it compromised the privacy of his neighbour.
He said: “The decking has been created as a platform where you can look down and regard the other property. He probably became accustomed to not having a neighbour.”
However, Dingwall and Seaforth councillor Margaret Paterson urged fellow members to visit the site before making a decision.
She said: “I’m not in favour of retrospective planning, I think it’s a bad was to go, but in this case the applicant made a genuine mistake. He was told by the contractor that he did not need planning permission so he went ahead. I do not have a problem with it. If you go up there you will see that all the houses are overlooking. The land is sloping everywhere.”
Fellow ward councillor, Lib Dem Angela MacLean, and several other councillors, admitted that they were in “two-minds” over the scheme..
But Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh councillor Isabelle Campbell said: “I don’t see it as obtrusive. I think it’s beautiful.”
Members agreed to hold a site visit on February 16th. A decision is expected later that day.
