01 January 2024 , 09:46
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A resident who gave his home a facelift has won a battle with a local council to keep it after a mystery neighbour complained about the new look.
Chris Elston painted his £350k home off white with a yellow tinge to make it look a little less shabby and added insulation to keep it warm but was stunned when he was told someone had complained. Because the home in Norwich, Norfolk, lies in a conservation area council chiefs originally ruled he would have to undo his hard work and repaint his home once again so it was “in keeping” with the other houses nearby.
Backed by most of his neighbours who had no problem with the new look home, he went to war with Norwich City Council’s planning committee. To his joy they found in his favour and overruled the previous order, meaning Mr Elston can put away his paintbrushes and ladder.
He told MailOnline : “ Our thanks go to the City Council planning committee for supporting us in voting for our application and against the planners. By adding external insulation when replacing the render we have upgraded a home, making it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.”
Most of his neighbours had no problem with the changes made to the rented home with one neighbour complaining it was an “eyesore” before the new paint job was done and added it had looked “dirty”. Another added the home now looks “very smart”
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The house had looked "shabby" before the new look (Copyright Albanpix.com,)Neighbour Giovanni Ablett, 75, added: 'I don't have any problem with the colour at all. I think the house looks brilliant. It's cleaned up well and the new colour is inoffensive and doesn't stand out. Apparently some over-officious council man took against it and the owners faced having to repaint the whole of the outside which would have cost a lot of money.” He added “good sense has prevailed.”
A report to the planning committee had previously said: “The new cladding is instantly visible. This causes a conflicting appearance to the distinctive and homogenous group of properties on the northern side of the cul-de-sac. The colour of the installed render has yellow tones which are also not in keeping with the other properties.”
During the meeting on December 14 councillors voted to allow the changes as they "did not agree" the report on the Elston's house was misleading but did accept the changes made by the couple amounted to "less than substantial harm". Eastern Daily Press reported Councillor Mike Sands said: “I can see little visual difference between the before and after. If I treat the pictures as a spot the difference, I can come up with 10 differences.
“There’s a car that’s not in the other, there are some plants that are gone, the major difference I can see in the house is an open window. I cannot see why we are being asked to refuse this application, I think the changes could be an improvement.” They voted to allow the new render by eight votes to three.