4 days ago
We bought former bank as dream home but council won't let us move in
An elderly couple embroiled in a seven-year battle to move into a £550,000 dream home have said they are being 'stonewalled' by a Scottish council.
Nigel and Pat Sharp bought an empty Royal Bank of Scotland building in Westgate, North Berwick, in 2018.
Their plans to renovate the coastal Victorian property to make it suitable for Mr Sharp, 78, who has Parkinson's disease, have been thwarted by East Lothian council, which insists it is a commercial building, of which there is short supply.
The couple have accused the council of wanting to build 'more carbuncles' and blocking their efforts to preserve the 'architectural Victorian heritage of North Berwick'.
During the planning struggle, Mr Sharp's condition deteriorated and he was forced to move into a residential care home.
The couple's hopes of creating their dream home rest on a final appeal set to be heard by the Labour-run council's planning department in August.
'I could turn the bank into a future proof home with a lift and easy wheelchair access,' said Mrs Sharp.
'If we at last get our planning permission I regard it as a win for beautiful North Berwick.
'We're just passing through. Let our legacy be one of carefully conserving what we've inherited, not building more carbuncles.'
The former bank was originally on sale without planning permission to turn it into a residential property.
Mr and Mrs Sharp paid more than double the £250,000 asking price to outbid other parties.
When the council rejected their plans to renovate the property, architect Andrew Megginson unearthed an old photo from before the RBS took over.
It showed that the Victorian property, once known as Park House, boasted a garden and large conservatory and there had been a carriage house and garages accessed through the double gates.
'This makes it clear that what we now own was historically more than half residential,' said Mrs Sharp.
'RBS retained the drawing room, and sold the remaining house to the bank manager, where his daughter and family lived.'
She said designs for a modern house were submitted after three councillors indicated support for their plans.
'Again, to our astonishment, they knocked it back,' said Mrs Sharp. 'Then they changed their view to 'North Berwick needs offices'… and now this has continued for years.'
The council later granted planning permission for a café and two offices but the couple claims this attracted little interest.
'After more than 83 viewings, we have demonstrated completely there is no appetite whatsoever for any commercial enterprise there – even less so with the new parking laws about to be inflicted on North Berwick,' said Mrs Sharp.
'We have repeatedly asked the council for a meeting to find a way to progress, which is our right.
'We have always been respectful and polite in all our dealings with planners and councillors, despite long periods of being stonewalled by everyone.'
A spokesman for East Lothian council said the couple's appeal will be considered in August.
'The applicant's agent, interested parties and consultees have all been contacted,' they said.
