Christine Povey awarded retrospective planning permission to paint stairs in Gullane

A homeowner who painted stairs at the back of her property magnolia has won the right to keep the shade despite local objections.

Christine Povey applied for retrospective planning permission to paint the rear outside stairwell at her property on Hopetoun Terrace, Gullane.

However, East Lothian planning officers said they received one objection from a fellow resident who said the cream-coloured paint was “unsightly” and made it stand out from the row of houses.

And Gullane Area Community Council also objected saying magnolia was ‘not appropriate’ and did not blend with the adjacent stonework.

Despite the objections, planning officers said it was not unusual for some of the properties in the Gullane conservation area to have some external stonework painted in a contrasting colour.

Officers pointed to other properties on the same street which had cream and ‘salmon pink’ paintwork which had been given planning permission in the past.

A report into the application for planning permission said one public objection had said the colour was “not in keeping with the rest of the unpainted walls of the rear of the row of properties” adding “the colour has changed the entire countenance at the rear and has an unsightly negative impact.”

The community council added “the choice of colour (magnolia) is not appropriate and does not blend with the adjacent stonework”.

Officers said that the paintwork at the rear of the property was not “readily visible” in the street.

They said: “There are glimpsed views of it from the east, however, in such views and in the context of the other painted buildings, the magnolia paint finish does not appear incongruous or at odds with the surrounding buildings.”

Permission to paint the stairwell was granted retrospectively.