Owners of Carphin House now facing enforcement action

Enforcement action is to be pursued against the owners of Carphin House, in relation to building work that was carried out without planning consent.

Construction of an outbuilding in the grounds of the C-listed property began before a planning application was considered by Fife Council.

Councillors on the north-east planning committee refused permission for the timber structure after seeing photographs of a concrete foundation which had already been laid.

They were told the three-room outbuilding, to be used as ancillary accommodation and storage, could be let out along with the house as a domestic property and comparisons were drawn between it and the forthcoming Loghouse venue advertised on the wedding venue’s website.

Planning permission was declined on the grounds of the outbuilding’s impact on the setting of a listed building and councillors requested action be taken towards reinstatement of the land.

Cupar councillor Tony Miklinksi pressed for clarification about whether the outbuilding, initially referred to as a shed, could be let to guests and said there was a “real sense of unhappiness” in relation to the application.

The Carphin House website states that from summer 2019 the new Loghouse venue will offer a “unique creative space” for events, with built-in stage, sound system, light and bar.

The property owned by Ian and Ruth Macallan currently hosts weddings in the house and in teepees erected in the grounds.

Council planners had recommended the outbuilding application be approved, subject to conditions.

Development service manager Alastair Hamilton told councillors the service was not “deaf and blind” to issues at the site but stressed the planning application before them had to be determined on its own merits.