Builder to sue over objection to plans

STUNNED homeowners received a letter from a housebuilder demanding they pay £74,100 each for loss of earnings because they objected to its planning application.

Company Raith Developments asked to build 12 flats but the plans were rejected after nearby residents objected to council planners.

Now company director Gordon Powell has written to nine residents asking for more than £666,000 in compensation. He threatened that, if residents did not pay within 21 days, legal action would be brought against them.

One angry homeowner, who did not want to be named, said he could not believe the move.

He said: “I am 74 and I have a neighbour who is 80, and this type of threatening correspondence is beyond belief.

“I contacted my lawyer immediately, who said it was nonsense and would be laughed out of court.”

The letters were posted through nine residents’ doors in the village of Thornton, Fife, early last Friday.

Local councillor Ross Vettraino commented: “I understand that the issue is a civil matter and falls to be dealt with by the objectors on that basis, but I think that the council has a locus in that it can advise the householder and the other objectors about their position in terms of the Town and Country Planning legislation.”

A spokesman for Fife Council said he did not want to comment further.

Raith Developments declined to provide any comment on the matter.