A family has complained to the council after their neighbour painted some of their windows with the “wrong colour”.
Karen Iridag, from Aberdeen, decorated her C-listed home without permission from the city council, later filling out a retrospective planning application.
However, this was contested by Anne and Johan van Diggelen next door, who raised concerns about the windows in the 120-year-old property on Rubislaw Den South.
Contacting city planners, the couple complained about the windows’ opening mechanism and critiqued the use of brown paint over its original white.
A couple have complained to the council after their neighbour painted their windows brown
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The objection said: “The brown finish is completely inconsistent with the Conservation area, there are no other sash and case windows in Rubislaw Den South that have a brown finish, the finish also appears to be a stain rather than a paint, paint would be the traditional finish that we would expect would be required on a listed building.
“The Supplementary Guidance: The Repair and Replacement of Windows and Doors states: 4.14 Colour White has been the default colour of window frame repairs and replacements for the past 20 years. In order to encourage uniformity, where there are multiple units in a building new windows will be white. Other colours will need to be agreed.
"As this building consists of two flats it is particularly unsightly to have brown finished windows on the ground floor where we have the accepted white finish on our windows to the first floor."
The couple said they had photographic evidence of the ground floor windows in their original white paint from 1974, which they said they were happy to provide if necessary.
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The council sided with Iridag, deeming the new windows “appropriate”.
They also said that the windows provide “thermal efficiency” to the home.
In regards to the change in colour, the councillors said it did not breach Aberdeen Planning Guidance and it did not “result in an adverse impact or detriment to the appearance” of the property.
They wrote: “The retention of the windows with a brown timber finish rather than white paint to match the upper storey does result in minor tension with Aberdeen Planning Guidance - Repair and Replacement of Windows and Doors.
The couple complained to Aberdeen City Council
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“However, due to the specific characteristics of this building, this is not considered to result in an adverse impact or detriment to the appearance of the listed building and the character and appearance of the Albyn Place and Rubislaw Conservation Area.
“This is because the building is screened to a degree, and more significantly is constructed in two distinct colours of granite which strongly demark the upper and lower floors.
“The use of uniform window designs, but with differing colours, is not considered incongruous in this specific setting.”