Why barber’s shop in a garage is for the chop
WHEN a barber struggled to raise the cash to rent suitable premises, he decided to improvise.
David Miller converted the garage at his home in Livingston, West Lothian, into a barber shop and, within a fortnight he was attracting a steady stream of clients.
However, only months after opening, council bosses shut down the 39-yearold’s business – Goodfella’s Barber Lounge – for breaching planning rules.
It followed complaints by neighbours to West Lothian Council. Though Mr Miller tried to appeal against the decision to the Scottish Government, he was told he had missed the deadline.
He said: ‘I contacted West Lothian Council on January 16, 2019, to discuss the possibility of changing my garage into a barber shop with a small area for my wife to occasionally do people’s make-up. As confirmed in an email, I could do this without planning permission as it was only myself mainly working from the converted garage.
‘I ensured the visual appearance had not been altered, other than a door, and operated on a one-in, one-out basis, with five minutes between clients to ensure no crossovers.
‘To reduce parking in my residential area I got a double driveway built to have clients parking on, and with the noise I asked my clients to reduce speed coming into the area.’
He added: ‘If I had to convert my garage back and find another property to rent, this will put me into extreme financial difficulties, which will have a detrimental impact on my family.’
A council spokesman said that after discovering the garage was being used as a hairdresser’s ‘without appropriate planning permission’, officials contacted the owner and served a notice ‘requiring the cessation of the business, or the submission of a planning application for the change of use’.
He added: ‘No application was submitted within the timescale set for doing so and officers have now commenced enforcement action against the unauthorised use.’