A FLAT owner in Dumfries town centre can breathe a sigh of relief after councillors overturned a planning order which could have cost her thousands.
Jennifer Crosbie had installed UPVC windows at her first floor property in Irish Street, but later discovered she had broken Dumfries and Galloway Council’s planning regulations.
As this is a category C-listed building in the Dumfries conservation area, the UPVC materials contravened the council’s planning policies.
Retrospective planning permission was refused and the applicant may have been forced to remove them.
The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland even wrote a letter of objection to the council, arguing that the installation of these windows with modern materials was “inappropriate” for the conservation area.
However, Mrs Crosbie lodged an appeal with the council’s local review body, and the case was discussed last week.
The committee heard that the same window replacement had taken place in the flat above decades earlier, and photos presented to councillors showed that the new windows did not negatively affect the character of the building.
In her letter to the local review body, Jennifer Crosbie wrote: “The reason we chose UPVC was we did not want future degradation to the building. We also wanted whoever has the flat in the future to have a beautiful, old style building but without the concerns and stresses that we were facing.
“We can categorically state we love Irish Street and have always taken pride in respecting how it looks and the history of the property. That is why when you look at the property you cannot tell any difference between us and the flat directly above.
“The windows we fitted are matt, woodgrain finish UPVC sash and case windows. These same windows have been used within the Old Town in Edinburgh.
“We don’t want us to ever take away from the beauty of the property however, if you look around Dumfries town centre at listed buildings within it, a lot of these are decaying.”
Annandale South Councillor Ian Carruthers said: “If I was a planning officer I would have rejected it, but we’re not planning officers – we’re here as councillors and can look at this more subjectively.
“This is a departure from policy but the overriding reasons to help support this is that it’s the same as what’s already there.”
Nith Councillor Keith Walters said: “Reasons for refusal are that ‘the use of UPVC materials is unsympathetic and damaging to the historic character and appearance of the building.’
“The advantage here is that we’ve actually got pictures of what the windows look like. When you see them and compare them to the character of the building – as in the top floor and the bottom floor – I think you could argue that’s not the case.”
Councillors agreed that this was a stand-alone case with exceptional circumstances and agreed to reverse the original planning decision, thereby allowing the windows to remain in place.
