Couple ordered to repaint cream home - because house colour ‘did not blend in with area'

A couple who have just painted their home cream have been ordered to change it to a different colour.

Simon Leslie-Carter, 74, and his wife Judy, 53, were told by council officials that their recent makeover of their villa in Greenock, Inverclyde, in Scotland isn’t satisfactory.

The property was repainted for the first time in 22 years at a cost of £1,230.

The couple chose a conservative cream colour with a sage border for the house’s exterior - it had previously been a different shade of cream with a burgundy border.

Simon Leslie-Carter outside his newly painted house (Picture: SWNS)

However, just one week after the works were finished, officials from Inverclyde Council told them there had been complaints about the new colour.

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The council said the colour did not blend in with the conservation area in that part of Greenock.

The couple were asked to submit an application seeking retrospective planning permission.

What the house looked like beforehand, left, and now (Picture: SWNS)

This particular area of Greenock is no stranger to planning controversy.

Earlier this year, the house next door was forced to repaint its exterior from a bright yellow to white.

“We are very surprised to get the refusal, it was an unexpected disappointment. We are now going to appeal it,” said Mr Leslie-Carter.

“The house was previously painted in cream with a strong contrasting burgundy border so we thought we were toning it down and believed it was suitable for the west end conservation area.”

His wife, Judy, said: “I think there is a difference between conservation and conservative. I don’t think it’s a bright modern colour.

“I think it looks so pretty and I genuinely felt that it was a traditional colour.”

The house is cream with a green border (Picture: SWNS)

The couple said they had considered the previous dispute over the bright yellow colour next door before choosing their colours.

There were no objections from the public to their retrospective planning application, but Stuart Jamieson, head of Inverclyde council’s regeneration and planning department, said: “The dark cream is a bright, modern paint colour that does not have the characteristics of a traditional limewash which may have been used on a house of this period style.

The council say it’s not the right colour (Picture: SWNS)

“The colour used to the banding is also an inappropriately contrasting shade relative to the main dark cream colour.

“The works undertaken therefore do not preserve and enhance the appearance of the Greenock west end conservation area and are not appropriate in terms of policies of the Local Development plan together with Historic Scotland’s policy and guidance which seek to preserve the historic environment.”

(Main picture: SWNS)