Woman ordered to get planning permission for PLANT POT after neighbour complains

A retired widow who was accused of "spending hours" tending to her plants by a neighbour was ordered to get planning permission for a wooden pot by the council.

Jane Higgins, 74, had the wooden plant holder installed in the front garden of her semi detached home and spends her days looking after the flowers and ornaments in it. And her family were shocked when they were told they needed to apply for retrospective planning permission for the planter - as a neighbour had issued a complaint. Among the concerns raised by the sole objector were that it overshadows their privacy "as the neighbour spends hours attending to their plants."

The objector also claimed its construction "caused disruption to street parking" when it was installed in April this year and described it as a "hideous eyesore." They also claimed it had become a "haven for cats who use it as a litter tray" and that "cats now fight at night causing excessive noise."

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Jane's family said they thought it was a joke when they were first told they needed planning consent. The garden planter is around 7m in length, 0.9m wide and 0.8m high and was built with timber planks.

Her family say she is in her garden in East Lothian, Scotland, every day and the described the planter as 'beautiful and very well tendered." But after spending several hundreds of pounds on architect and planning fees, permission has now been granted to allow the planter to stay.

In its decision, a planning officer for East Lothian District Council, wrote: "The raised planter is visible from the public road to the northwest, it is however only some 0.8m in height and is similar in its height and overall appearance to boundary enclosures which are present within the surrounding area.

"The raised planter whilst visible is not therefore inappropriate to its garden setting and is not harmful to the character and appearance of the house or harmful to the character and appearance of the Aberlady Conservation Area."

Planners said parking disruption, concern over cat noise and damage to property were not planning considerations. Speaking after permission was granted, Jane's son Craig Higgins, 54, described the row as "ridiculous."

He added: "We were in disbelief about the whole thing. It is just crazy. My mum had put the planter in and never in a million years did we think she would need planning permission for it.

"But the council wrote to her and told her there had been an objection so we needed to get planning consent. We laughed it off at the beginning as we thought it had been a mistake. But it turns out we did and has caused a lot of stress. It's taken a couple of months to manage and cost a few hundred pounds.

"I got an architect I know to do it and when I told him the story he thought it was outrageous. After it was submitted we heard back in about eight weeks to say we had got permission agreed."

Craig said they haven't confronted the neighbour directly as they don't get involved with them. He added: "It was only one neighbour who complained. We knew there had been an objection but didn't know on what grounds until we saw the documents online. We all just shook our head in disbelief.

"None of what was said was true - it was all made up. The planter is in my mum's garden and is on her land. It can not and does not impact anyone. The whole thing is very hard to believe. It is humorous in a way that it is just so ridiculous. It just has some plants, flowers and a few ornaments. She had some in her back garden but this was the first one she put out the front."

Craig said his mother was a retired widow who loves spending time in her front and back garden. She has lived in the home for 20 years, is very community spirited and "just decided to get a planter," Craig said.

"What a process to go through for something so small," he added. "I even said to the planning guy who came along to look at the situation 'really? You have come out to review a planter?'

"I don't think he could say it and wasn't allowed you, but you could tell he probably thought it was all very silly. The whole family has actually found it quite funny. My mum is very community spirited and gets along well with all the other neighbours. Everyone we spoke to finds it amusing, and just in utter disbelief."

As part of the same application, permission was also granted for CCTV cameras at Jane's home that the neighbour had also complained about.