Neighbours lose windows appeals

TWO neighbours have lost their fight to replace wooden window frames with UPVC after a Greens councillor questioned whether they were better for the environment.

The residents of Forth Street, North Berwick, appealed after they were refused permission to put UPVC frames and doors on their modern properties after planners ruled it would be “harmful” to the character of the area.

However, a meeting of East Lothian Council’s local review body last Thursday rejected their appeal, with Scottish Greens councillor Shona Mcintosh saying there was “no evidence” the modern material was better.

She told the meeting: “There is an assumption through the applications that UPVC is better for the environment but there is no evidence for this.

“It is not locally sourced, harder to repair and can’t be recycled at its end of life.”

The residents had pointed out that other properties on their street already had UPVC frames installed.

And they argued that the new frames would help protect their homes from the “winter winds and gales” which buffet their homes.

In one appeal statement, homeowner Wilma Shaw stated: “We have had Care and Repair repeatedly attempt to insulate windows and doors, yet the rains still saturate the wooden frames, which shrink in the summer then swell in winter. UPVC will not shrink and swell but fit consistently all year round.”

She added: “Our properties were built in 1993, therefore are historically insignificant but aim to present an attractive element in a street which serves as a through route, not a tourist stop.”

The other applicant, Maggie Sinclair, referenced the council’s own climate change policy, arguing that the new UPVC was more energy efficient than the current wooden frames they wanted to replace.

The review body rejected appeals for both applications by two votes to one, with Ms Mcintosh and Councillor Andy Forrest backing planners and Councillor Jeremy Findlay backing the appeals.