Pat Sharp and her husband Nigel bought the old RBS building in Scotland seven years ago
The couple have been unable to move in for 7 years due to planning restrictions(Image: SWNS)
A couple who splashed out more than half a million on a former bank in a bid to transform it into their dream home are yet to move in due to ongoing planning restrictions.
Pat Sharp and her husband Nigel purchased the vacant Royal Bank of Scotland building in North Berwick, Scotland, seven years ago and envisioned it as their retirement haven.
However, their plans quickly became a race against time when they realised that their small flat above a Victorian house in the town would soon become inaccessible for Nigel, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The couple then seized the opportunity to purchase the old RBS building, despite it being listed for sale without planning permission for residential use.
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They shelled out more than double the £250,000 asking price to outbid other interested parties, but are still unable to move in.
The council has maintained that the building is commercial and needed in the bustling town centre, despite the couple discovering an old photograph showing it was once a residence.
Their seven-year battle with East Lothian Council also means they’ve missed the chance to spend their granddaughters’ early years in the proposed new home, conveniently located near the beach.
The two young girls, aged two and three, recently lost their mother to cancer, and one of her final wishes was for her own mother, Pat, to recreate the seaside family holidays she had cherished as a child.
Pat Sharp and her husband Nigel bought the old RBS building in Scotland seven years ago(Image: SWNS)
“I could turn the bank into a future proof home with a lift and easy wheelchair access, and making it a fun place for the girls to visit,” Pat explained.
“Twelve other people wanted it too, most of them aiming to turn it into a house.
“However I was the top offer at £555,555. The offers over price was obviously to attract attention and was no way realistic.”
After extensive research, their architect Andrew Megginson unearthed an old photograph predating the RBS’s ownership.
The image revealed that the Victorian building, once known as Park House, featured a garden, a sizeable conservatory, and had carriage house and garages accessible through the double gates.
“This makes it clear that what we now own was historically more than half residential,” Pat said.
“RBS retained the drawing room, and sold the remaining house to the bank manager, where his daughter and family lived.
“It is in the middle of period properties, well set back – even further than its neighbours.”
During their initial planning permission appeal, Pat recalls one councillor being quite taken with their vision for the property – a design she believes would “echo the Victorian architectural heritage of North Berwick”.
“One of the three councillors loved our plans for a beautiful quality house,” she recounted.
“The other two said it was a pastiche, and a modern house was required – not my choice but Andrew designed one.
“Again, to our astonishment, they knocked it back. Then they changed their view to ‘North Berwick needs offices’… and now this has continued for years.”
Pat inside the vacant property(Image: SWNS)
During their struggles, Nigel’s health worsened and he has since moved into a residential care home, meaning the couple can’t ever live together.
At one point in their seven-year battle, the council granted planning permission for a cafe and two offices, but this garnered little interest.
“A modern office block at the end of a graceful terrace of Victorian villas?,” queried Pat.
“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.”
She is desperate for a solution and shocked by the lack of support and information provided by the council.
“We have repeatedly asked the council for a meeting to find a way to progress, which is our right,” she stated.
“We have always been respectful and polite in all our dealings with planners and councillors, despite long periods of being stonewalled by everyone.
“Nobody is offering us an opportunity to meet up and try to progress our case in a helpful way.”
A final appeal meeting was scheduled to be held by East Lothian Council’s Planning Department on 19 June, but after one interested party was not informed of the meeting, the date has now been pushed back two months.
Pat stated: “The Council’s recent postponement at the 11th hour of our local review does not surprise us.
“It’s been put off for two months while they scramble to dream up some new plan to again reject our application.
“However we have engaged a chartered surveyor from an old established Edinburgh Company to give his expert opinion on valuation etc.”
The council has maintained that the building should be for commercial use(Image: SWNS)
Pat continued: “The DV appointed by the council gave very low figures… our expert and those of a respected estate agent in North Berwick were substantially higher.
“None of the latest objections appear to address or care about the architectural Victorian heritage of North Berwick.
“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.”
An East Lothian Council spokesperson explained the delay, saying: “One of the interested parties was accidentally omitted from our notification process so was not informed of the appeal in time for it to be heard at the Local Review Body meeting on Thursday 19 June.
“It will be heard at the next available meeting in August. The applicant’s agent, interested parties and consultees have all been contacted.”
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