Couple forced to give back garden after spending £22,000 renovating wasteland as fencing broke council rules
A COUPLE have been forced to turn their garden back to a wasteland after spending £22,000 on the renovations.
Adam and Barbara Keating from Livingston, Scotland had just finished their renovations when the council told them they broke strict planning permission rules.
Adam and Barbara Keating spent £22,000 to have their garden look like this[/caption] They’ve since been told they broke strict planning permission rules[/caption]The couple had bought the landed adjacent to their home last year with plans to use it as a garden for their four children just in time for summer.
They used their £22,000 life savings for a fence and landscaping, the Daily Record reported.
West Lothian Council has since informed the couple that the fence they erected broke strict planning permission rules – and they have to return the land back to its former state.
The council said the erection of the fence was not supported because of the “impact on the integrity of the open space/woodland”.
Linen firm boss Adam and teacher Barbara splashed the cash after their solicitor reportedly told them that planning permission wouldn’t be necessary.
The couple appealed the decision to the Scottish Government, which supported the council.
Their request was also later denied.
They now have three months to return the land to its original condition.
Adam told the Daily Record: “Our solicitor informed us that they had dealt with the sale of two of the adjoining plots at the top of our estate that had been converted into extended gardens and that as our change of land use was the same, then planning permission should not be required.
“We have found the whole episode very exhausting.
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“We now have three months to remove the fence, reinstall the original fence and return the land to its original condition.
“It has cost us a lot of money and time for a strip of land that is 200 square metres.”
West Lothian Council said: “The change of use and erection of the fence is not supported and was refused planning permission due to the impact on the integrity of the open space/woodland.”
The council said the erection of the fence was not supported because of the ‘impact on the integrity of the open space/woodland’[/caption]