Pensioner embroiled in furious row over neighbour's 14m-high conservatory
Derek Adams says he feels "dwarfed" by his neighbour's conservatory he claims is "sitting on top of him".
A pensioner has been emboiled in a furious planning row after feeling “dwarfed” by a 14-metre extension on his neighbour’s balcony.
Derek Adams, a 67-year-old civil engineer who has lived in his Paisley home for 28 years, has spoken out about the ongoing construction that he claims is “sitting on top of him”.
Despite Derek’s objections to the planning permission when it was first submitted to Renfrewshire Council in 2021, the application for a single-storey extension to the side of his neighbour’s home, as well as a dormer to the front and rear, was approved.
With construction beginning earlier this year, Derek, who currently lives with his wife and daughter, explained: “As soon as we come out our back door, it’s effectively sitting on top of us.”
While the council has stipulated that dormers must be ‘small, discrete additions which retain the character of the original roof’, Derek reveals that his neighbour’s dormer, at 13 to 14 metres in length, is “hardly small and discrete”.
"They're effectively creating a new roof. It's not really a dormer, they're effectively adding a second storey. It’s over-developed,” he said.
He has emphasised that his frustration is directed at Renfrewshire Council, not his neighbour. “It’s not the neighbour’s fault,” he explained.
“But I’m not trying to get to my neighbour, I went round and spoke to him about it. I'm trying to get to the council because of the mishandling of it.”
In September 2022, a non-material variation (NMV) request submitted by the homeowner was approved by the council.
The local authority’s decision notice specified changes “to various openings on the extension and rear dormer” but did not mention any changes in the size of the dormer.
Upon closer inspection of the plans, Derek discovered an increase in the dormer’s length between the original planning application (revision A) and the NMV (revision B).
“My understanding is that it shouldn’t have been approved under an NMV request and we should have been notified specifically, but it was ignored. Nobody picked it up.
“It was showing on the architect’s section, but it wasn't covered at all in any of the paperwork or the NMV description or approvals,” David revealed.
Despite making numerous requests for a council officer to inspect the issue at his property, he was left frustrated by the lack of action.
“They’ve certainly not come into my garden, and I offered. I told them; 'come out and I'll point out where the errors are'."
Renfrewshire City Council have acknowledged the issue, but maintain the belief that the changes to the dormer are “minor”.
A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council stated: “Our officers have visited the property and consider the development underway to be in accordance with the approved plans for the alterations to the house.
“The final design for the works was subject to a number of negotiated changes, which is often the case with applications for domestic properties.
“While the depth of the dormer has increased slightly under the NMV, it is minor in comparison to the dormer as a whole and does not raise any overshadowing or overlooking issues.
“Any request for a NMV is at the discretion of the planning authority and, in this case, we believe the changes to the original proposed design for the depth of the dormer were sufficiently minor to grant the request.”
