Perth and Kinross Council has failed in a costly bid to force the owner of a Highland cottage to tear the roof off because it was raised by five inches during a renovation.
Mark Stewart spent £20,000 on legal bills in a two-year battle to save his home in Kenmore’s conservation area. He bought the dilapidated building three years ago and spent almost a quarter of a million pounds upgrading the “eyesore”.
Not one resident objected to the overhaul but council planners ruled the roof should not have been raised and took enforcement action.
Mr Stewart, 44, from Fife, said: “It’s cost me the best part of £20,000 in legal bills just to fight the case for the sake of raising the roof five inches.
“The neighbours have been more than happy that somebody bought the building and done it up. It was a complete and utter eyesore in Kenmore. Everybody I speak to, everybody I got to know has been supportive. We didn’t have one objection.
“The only problem we came up against was Perth and Kinross Council’s planners.
“They actually wanted me to knock it down and redo it for the sake of five inches basically destroy everything, more than £200,000 worth of work, take it down and rebuild it for that.”
Tam Tiffney, 68, of East Coast Building Services, who worked on the property, said: “If we were to keep the roof to the original height, we would have had to lower the walls by five inches, which they wouldn’t have been happy with either.
“So they were asking us to do the impossible. Perth planning department was just a nightmare. They had their minds made up from the word go and would not deviate from that. Whatever we said was knocked back.”
Mr Stewart’s lawyers appealed the council decision to take enforcement action and the Scottish Government sent independent planner Dan Jackman to assess work done on the category C listed building.
He ruled the difference in the height of the roof was “not significant” and the renovation had seen a “significant enhancement to the character and appearance of the conservation area”.
Mr Jackman concluded: “Overall, I am satisfied that the renovation as carried out enhances Kenmore Conservation Area, has no adverse impact on the special interest of a listed building and would secure the long-term future of that building.”
Perth and Kinross Council described Mr Jackman’s findings as “disappointing”.
“An enforcement notice and listed building notice were served on the developer because the work carried out on the building did not conform to the previously granted planning permission,” added a council spokeswoman.
“Due to the extensive differences, the council was not in a position to grant retrospective planning permission.”
Mr Stewart is now seeking the completion certificate he first applied for two years ago but he will not now be reimbursed for the legal fees he paid out.
He said: “I’m £20,000 out of pocket, for nothing. And God knows how much it has cost the Perth taxpayer in legal bills.”
The council spokeswoman pointed out Mr Stewart “had the opportunity to seek expenses during the appeals process and chose not to do so”.
Mr Stewart added: “I know it’s too late for me to get anything back but I want to draw attention to how awkward the council planners are being with people. If it saves a couple of businesses from going bust, that’s perfect.”