The prospect of a third round of direct action to clean-up at a house in Monikie has been halted, amid a plea for a “break-out of common sense”.
Angus development standards committee rejected the idea of another round of direct enforcement at 1 Broomwell Gardens, the former home of a convicted fraudster that the authority has spent £32,000 tidying up since 2007.
New owners who bought the house at auction in 2014 are developing the property into a four-bed family home, but planning chiefs had criticised them for failing to comply with an amenity notice that continues to hang over the site.
But the family firm took their case to councillors, saying they felt “bullied and harassed by” the planning process.
Mrs Eleanor Gledhill, owner of the house, told the committee: “We don’t know why this situation was allowed to continue between 2008 and 2014 but our priority when we bought this house was to get rid of the vermin and dead animals inside.
“We reckon the site is in a reasonable condition, it’s not perfect and it’s not too bad. We’ve removed the main things the cars, the boats and 100 pairs of skis.
“No enforcement is needed, we’ve already invested £120,000 in this property and this is a building site.
“Granting enforcement would make it impossible for us to carry on the works,” added Mrs Gledhill, who told councillors they hope to have the property on the market by the autumn.
“Maybe we’re wrong, but we think we are actually the good guys here. We are the first owners to make a positive difference to the site in 10 years.
Planning chief Ian Mitchell said: “It’s fully accepted works will have to be undertaken in relation to the building warrant, but it’s a question of how long neighbours go on with this property not being compliant with the amenity notice.”
Meanwhile Arbroath councillor David Fairweather said: “Considering how long this has been ongoing I do believe that the owners are the good guys here, and I think there should be a break-out of common sense in this situation.
“The work that has been done is commendable and we should give them more time to complete the house.”