Angus planners have closed the book on a thorny Sidlaws enforcement case. But the end to a wrangle over the siting of a residential caravan in a rural hamlet has come with criticism of the matter being concluded to the letter of the law and not its spirit.
The Woodside Cottage saga at Kirkton of Auchterhouse stretched back to 2010 after a complaint was received about the siting of the residential caravan in the garden of the property.
Angus Council then refused a retrospective planning application and subsequently served an enforcement notice on house owner Carina Roberts over the siting of the caravan, used to accommodate her mother, Diana Lams.
The family appealed the enforcement notice but that was eventually dismissed.
In a highly charged meeting of Angus Council’s development standards committee last month, councillors agreed formal action should be taken to comply with the terms of the enforcement notice.
That meeting heard how the row had affected the health and wellbeing of a neighbouring couple, whose house sale had reportedly fallen through after the caravan appeared on the property.
The applicants said that using the caravan was the only way of keeping their family together, adding that a number of measures had been taken to mitigate its impact on neighbouring properties.
The owner’s agent had indicated to the authority that the intention was to reposition the caravan and at the latest meeting of the committee this week councillors were told that was what had happened.
Planning official Ian Mitchell told the committee the caravan was taken off the site but brought back into the garden very shortly after.
Councillor Bill Duff said: ”The agent was offering to reposition the caravan as a compromise are we not just playing with the English language here?
”Do we feel that the applicant has actually complied with the enforcement notice or are they simply playing with us?”
Mr Mitchell told the committee it would be unlikely officials would be able to take the view that the terms of the enforcement had not been complied with.
”The caravan has been taken off the site, albeit for a short time to reposition it. I don’t think we feel comfortable arguing how long it was taken out for.
”Unfortunately our view is that there is not much more we can do with this,” added Mr Mitchell. ”They have complied with the notice.”
Councillors were shown slides of the caravan with Home Sweet Home painted in large letters on it in its new location next to the house.
The committee heard that service connections had been removed.
Councillors were also told that the issue centred on the use of the caravan and whether it was used as a house.
”It does not mean to say that the caravan cannot be used incidentally,” Mr Mitchell said.
Committee convener Rob Murray said: ”I can’t see any benefit in continuing to monitor the situation. The enforcement order has been adhered with perhaps not in the spirit the community or the neighbour might have hoped for but it has been adhered to in the letter of the law.
”Some of us are none too happy with the situation but I think we note it and suggest we take it off the enforcement list.”