A grandmother says East Lothian Council has robbed her husband of spending his final years in their dream home after they spent over half a million pounds buying an empty building.
Pat Sharp and her husband Nigel bought the former bank building on Westgate, North Berwick, seven years ago after it was put on the market by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Despite it not having planning permission to be converted into a house, the Edinburgh couple paid more than double the £250,000 asking price, and Pat says they still only narrowly outbid other interested parties.
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But they have been left with a derelict building after planners repeatedly rejected applications to turn it into a home insisting it was a commercial building which was needed in the popular town centre.
Pat says the couple had originally bought an upstairs flat in North Berwick to bring their grandchildren and build precious memories.
Historic images of site of former bank hall on Westgate, North Berwick, show a conservatory which was part of the main house
After Nigel, retired from his job as a managing director of an international company however, he was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease.
She said: “Our daughter Cheryl passed away after being diagnosed with CUP (Cancer of Unknown Primary) when the girls were very young and made us promise not to just buy them things but to build memories with them and given them precious experiences.
“I don’t know why we thought of North Berwick but we did and it was a favourite place for the girls and us when they were young. When I saw the bank hall was for sale I thought it would be perfect for our retirement and Nigel, who could no longer cope with the stairs in the flat.”
Sadly for Pat and Nigel, who is 78, his condition has now deteriorated to the point he has had to move into a care home to receive the support he needs.
Pat said: “He has been robbed of the chance to spend his final years in what we wanted to be our dream home, looking out over the North Berwick coast and remembering all our wonderful times here. it is devastating.”
Single storey bank hall seen from beach front in North Berwick sandwiched between residential properties
Bay window overlooks North Berwick beach front in former bank hall
Planners have rejected several application to turn the building into a home and dismissed claims by Pat and her team that attempts to sell it as a commercial venture have been unsuccessful after describing the £595,000 price tag put on it as “excessive”.
Pat says attempts have been made to try and sell the building for commercial purposes with plans to convert it into a cafe approve by the council at one stage, but nothing has worked so far.
Rejecting plans to turn it into a home planners ruled it would be a “loss of a ground floor Class 1A commercial premises within North Berwick Town Centre where there is no evidence that the premises is no longer viable as a town or local centre use”.
However Pat argues the building, which is sandwiched between two large residential homes, one of which was owned by the bank manager and is attached to it, is clearly suited to being residential and its location, set back from the road, is not suited to retail.
And she says a recent decision to introduce parking charges in the town centre makes it even less likely to attract a buyer.
She said: “The council’s decision to introduce parking meters in the town centre only serves to put retailers off investing in a new business. It has made it even less marketable.”
Architect Andrew Megginson has worked with Pat on designs for the building and says the council’s position has been frustrating and entrenched.
He said: “From the start officers have not been interested in any design and insist it has to be a commercial building, but I have photographs which show the land it is on used to be the conservatory of the house next door, it was residential in the past and should be again.
“Looking up at the hall from the beach you can clearly see it would be a welcome addition to the line of residential homes it sits within. It is frustrating that planners cannot see its potential.”
The latest planning application is due to go before the council’s Local Review Body next week in the latest appeal against officers refusal of plans for a house.
Pat said: “If this fails I don’t know what we will do. I spend £100 a month maintaining the gardens of the property and we have invested a lot to maintain and bring the hall itself into a maintained state but I can’t go on with it forever.”
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