CASE STUDY


RETIRING – BUT FAR FROM SHY


Realising their Victorian house would be unsuitable as they approached retirement, Elaine and Tom Devine decided to take matters into their own hands and tackle a new build in their garden, but their timber-framed project faced some planning battles


TEXT ROSEANNE FIELD IMAGES NEIL GORDON (ABERDEENPHOTO.COM) I


n Newport-on-Tay in Fife, Scotland, Elaine and Tom Devine were happy in their Victorian house with its spectacular views of the River Tay. However as they were approaching retirement, they realised the house wasn’t going to be practical forever. One of their daughters was also keen to get on the property ladder by buying the house, so moving on made sense for a number of reasons.


Over the years they had slowly acquired more land at the edges of their land, enlarging their garden into what was the site of a former railway line. They hadn’t intended to build a house, but a large garage to accommodate Tom’s hobby (4x4 vehicles), which would have its own access. The idea to build a house on the land came after a neighbour built theirs. “I watched that go up and remember thinking ‘I wonder if we could squeeze another house onto our plot’,” Elaine says. But as it was narrow, she “kept thinking it just wouldn’t work.”


It was back in 2012 – while both Elaine


and Tom were still working  that they first approached an architect to draw up plans to submit for planning approal. To find an architect they engaged the help of the Association of Self Build Architects; a network of UK-based, RIBA- approved architects. “In my previous job I had dealt with a lot of architectural firms, and  knew they could be expensive,” Elaine explains. “I wanted one that really understood the self-build market – and who wasn’t going to be too dear.” They filled out the uestionnaire on the SB website, which asks for basic information about the project and intended budget, before a local architect is proposed – in Elaine and Tom’s case, Alistair Graham of Gillespie & Scott Architects. “Alistair came and viewed the site, and reckoned it was big enough for a three bedroom house,” says Elaine.


A PLANNING NIGHTMARE The couple were open to ideas, especially knowing the narrow site meant their design


68 www.sbhonline.co.uk


“I wrote a letter to every single member of the planning committee,” Elaine explains. “I knew they wouldn’t read it if it was too long so I kept it to one bullet-pointed sheet of A4”


would be constrained. They were also aware of potential issues with overlooking which needed to be addressed. The first design was an upside down’ house to make the most of the river views. It was recommended by the planners for approval, and only two objections were submitted.The rules in Scotland dictate that if there are fewer than six complaints, the planning officer can proceed with the application. oweer, on the final day for any obections


there was a twist – the community council lodged an objection, meaning the application automatically went to committee and was refused (in January 2013). Elaine is philosophical: On reection, it was the wrong time for us to build, we were still working, and it was a


nov/dec 2022 HIGH POINT


“The biggest high was coming back to site one day to find four walls and a roof where there had been nothing, and you had just been looking at a piece of paper for years.”


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