Businessman refuses to give up his dream of selling shop
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A VETERAN TV repair man is to appeal after plans to convert his shop into a Chinese takeaway were rejected.
Robyn MacDonald-Johnston, of Tomnahurich Street’s Telly on the Blink, believes the "nonsensical" Highland Council decision to reject the move on road safety grounds can be overturned by the Scottish Government because the recently-opened West Link road has reduced traffic in the area.
"People can saunter across the street at their leisure now," said the 70-year-old former Episcopal Church preacher.
"We took pictures at 1.30pm and again at 5.30pm to prove it."
Mr MacDonald-Johnston wants to sell his ground-floor premises to a Chinese family who want to convert it into a takeaway.
He would then relocate his TV repair business to a workshop in the back garden of his home on the Black Isle.
Planning officers recommended the scheme for approval but councillors concerned for the safety of children crossing the road voted 5-7 against the application on car parking, traffic and road safety grounds.
Their decision followed an objection from top-floor occupants the Samaritans, which feared the takeaway would "strongly compromise our critical work with noise and disturbance", and there were 13 objections from neighbours worried about "pungent smells".
Mr MacDonald-Johnston believes he has strong grounds for getting the decision reversed.
He said: "The fact that the planning officers recommended this for approval is sufficient. We are just going to make an appeal."
The decision to reject the scheme was made at a meeting of the council’s planning committee in Inverness on December 12.
In the days that followed, Mr MacDonald-Johnston told the Courier he felt "disappointed and angry" and "unfairly treated".
He believed Inverness councillor Bill Boyd, who is a member of the planning committee and who helped to lead the vote against the scheme, ought to have disclosed to fellow members that he had previously volunteered for the Samaritans for nearly seven years.
And Cllr Boyd had not long relinquished his chairmanship with the Ballifeary Community Council, which also objected to Mr MacDonald-Johnston’s plan.
However Cllr Boyd, SNP member for Inverness West, insisted he had no personal interest in the matter and said he gave up volunteering for the Samaritans 18 months earlier.
He said he did not wish to comment on the earlier accusations but he "fully supported Mr MacDonald-Johnston’s right to appeal".
