Repaint your house... it’s the wrong shade of cream!
WHEN a couple decided to repaint their home, they chose a conservative cream colour with sage border.
But the pastel shades proved too much for the bureaucrats.
Simon Leslie-Carter, 74, and his wife Judy, 53, splashed £1,230 on a fresh coat of paint for their home in Greenock, Renfrewshire.
The villa in a conservation area had not seen a new lick of paint in 22 years and was another shade of cream with a garish burgundy border.
But a week after they finished the job, council officials called to notify them of complaints about the colour scheme.
They claimed the new appearance looked out of place in the protected planning zone in the west of the town.
Officials asked the Leslie-Carters to lodge an application for retrospective planning permission after a citizen complained – but consent was refused.
Coincidentally, the home is next door to a house whose occupiers had to repaint it from primary yellow to white.
Mr Leslie-Carter, who is retired and has lived in the villa flat for three years, said: ‘It was unexpected. We are going to appeal against it. The house was previously painted in cream with a strong contrasting burgundy border so we thought we were toning it down and believed it was suitable for the west end conservation area.’
His wife, who is a therapist in holistic medicine, said: ‘I think there is a difference between conservation and conservative. I don’t think it’s a bright, modern colour. I think it looks so pretty and I genuinely felt that it was a traditional colour.’
The couple told Inverclyde Council they chose muted pastel hues, with the veto against next door’s bright yellow in mind. Two members of the public sent in comments to the council in support of the repainting plan. No objections were received.
But the local authority’s planning chief Stuart Jamieson said: ‘The dark cream is a bright, modern colour that does not have the characteristics of a traditional limewash, which may have been used on a house of this style.’
He also argued that the sage border clashed with the cream.
Mr Jamieson continued: ‘The colours are also at odds with the primary white and cream tones found in this part of the conservation area. The works do not preserve and enhance the appearance of the area and are not appropriate in terms of the local development plan and Historic Scotland’s guidance.’
Next door’s repaint of their property on the Esplanade to its previous neutral colour was ordered after a long-running row between owners the Varese family and town planners.
The family chose lemon zest for the exterior two years ago, which led to a number of complaints.