Fraserburgh homeowner wins fight to install modern doors on his 19th-century property

A Fraserburgh man has won the fight to fit UPVC doors on his 19th century home despite fears they would not fit in with the historic neighbourhood.

Ian Mill wanted to replace the wooden doors on his granite George Street house with modern ones of the same size, design and colour.

He had lodged plans with Aberdeenshire Council in February seeking the go-ahead to make the change.

The homeowner stressed the rear door of his property was “in urgent need” of replacement as the frame was rotting and a panel had broken.

But his application was refused as council planners believed the new doors would be at odds with the traditional appearance and character of the listed building and surrounding conservation area.

However, determined to make essential improvements to his property, Mr Mill appealed the refusal.

Mr Mill argued the new fixtures would fit in “reasonably well” and wouldn’t negatively impact the conservation area.

He even suggested the UPVC would “have the appearance of wood, enhance the street, and improve the area”.

Wooden doors on Mr Mill's home. — Wooden doors on Mr Mill’s home. LDRS

In his appeal to the council, Mr Mill revealed he had walked around the neighbourhood and noted 18 of the 29 properties on George Street already have UPVC doors.

Meanwhile, he recorded 65 of the 106 homes in the conservation area had the modern fixtures.

His application went before the local authority’s local review body for consideration back in June, but members agreed to visit the area to see the situation for themselves first before making a final call.

With the site visit done and dusted, the board met again recently to determine the request.

Senior planner Bruce Strachan explained the council stood by its stance that the replacement door should be timber “so not to detract from the historical character of the building and prevent precedent in the conservation area”.

But councillor Isobel Davidson queried if a precedent against timber replacements is already in place, given the number of UPVC doors in the street.

She said: “It’s quite difficult when planning is saying it needs to follow the precedent when it’s very clear that the precedent isn’t there anymore.”

After attending the visit to Fraserburgh, councillor Catherine Victor admitted she found it hard to separate wood from the modern material.

She explained: “UPVC doors are so good at replicating wooden doors now, that just driving along the street, you wouldn’t know which was which.

“As there are quite a few PVC doors there already, I think it would be a bit mean to refuse this particular house owner.”

Councillor Victor also believed that Fraserburgh residents were more likely to opt for UPVC as it would be more resilient against salt in the sea air.

Meanwhile, councillor Richard Menard didn’t think the new fixtures would have an impact on the historic neighbourhood.

“They’ve been designed to fit in with the surrounding area and everything else,” he said.

“We’ve got to keep up with modern construction and also keep these buildings for the future using 21st century materials.”

Following discussion, the board agreed to overturn the refusal and grant full planning permission for the doors.

This comes after Mr Mill’s attempt to replace his wooden windows was thrown out by the Scottish Government.