Highland Council sees red over cream paint on Inverness guest house
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AN Inverness guest house owner who broke planning rules when he painted the stonework on his property has lost an appeal against an enforcement notice requiring him to remove the paint.
Highland Council issued the notice against Coinneach MacMillan in May after he painted corner stone blocks and other details at Crown House in Crown Drive in a cream colour.
Planning officers said the property was in a conservation area and maintained the application of paint was not in keeping with the area and also there was no previous evidence of the stonework having been previously painted.
They also said painting stonework could accelerate the decay of underlying stone, so could not support a retrospective application.
Mr MacMillan appealed against the notice, maintaining he was unaware the property was within the conservation area and that he had to have permission prior to work to alter its character or appearance.
A letter from his solicitor stated: “This was not a deliberate act against the local authority and was a misunderstanding on our client’s part but the appellant would respectfully suggest the council’s response was not proportionate.”
He also said similar types of work had been carried out to other nearby properties.
But his appeal was dismissed by Scottish Government reporter Trevor Croft following a site visit.
“My own site inspection confirmed that the quoins and architectural detail on the front of the property had indeed been painted in a cream colour and that this was clearly freshly applied,” he said. “This confirmed to me that the matters alleged to have occurred have occurred.”
Responding to the decision, Mr MacMillan said he had got the idea to paint the stonework after seeing other properties nearby had undergone similar work.
“I think the whole thing is ridiculous,” he said. “My neighbours were quite happy. But there is not much I can say or do about it now. The decision has been made and that is final.”
He thought the only way the paint could be removed was through sandblasting, which he thought would cause damage.
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