Edinburgh man who turned front garden into parking spaces ordered to reverse changes

Edinburgh council refuses retrospective permission, saying changes do not fit with character of area

An Edinburgh man has been ordered to rebuild his front garden after turning it into a driveway and installing electric vehicle chargers.

Phillip Marinello got caught out after carrying out the work without getting the green light from the council first. And after lodging a retrospective planning application, the local authority said the changes made to his Slateford home did not fit in with the character of the local area.

It followed a complaint to planners about the work carried out by Mr Marinello, which was reported as an unauthorised development. A decision was issued on the case last week refusing planning permission and demanding the resident removes the cars and paving slabs at the front of the Moat Street property.

The council has ruled that turning a front garden into a driveway does not fit with the character of the area.

In addition a boundary fence which was removed to allow vehicles to park in the driveway will have to be returned, or the council could take further action. However, the applicant also has the option to appeal the decision.

A report by planning officers praised Mr Marinello for having “due regard to global climate and nature crisis” and said the changes “will not result in an unreasonable loss of neighbouring amenity”.

However, it added: “The works are not compatible with the existing dwelling and surrounding neighbourhood character. There are no material considerations which indicate that the retrospective and proposed work should be granted.”

Planners said replacing an extensive portion of the garden with hard landscaping would be “overly dominant” and there were “limited examples” of similar developments in the surrounding area. They added: “The scale and design of the double driveway would impact the visual and environmental quality of the neighbourhood and is not compatible with the host building or surrounding area.”