Cults neighbours, who claim a shed near their home would be “the envy of Blackpool prom”, are celebrating victory in their fight to have it torn down.
Residents at Birchwood, on South Avenue, begged Aberdeen City Council to order the “garden bar” be dismantled, after it was built without planning permission.
Nestled in a quiet corner of the suburb, the grand home is divided into three separate properties.
And in recent years, it has played host to an escalating feud.
Stuart Spearritt, who lives in the upstairs property of the granite flats complex, is the newest arrival having moved there less than a decade ago.
He claims he did not know he would need approval for the shed/bar – which has become the latest bone of contention.
But his neighbours claim that is “patent nonsense”, as their property developer neighbour is no stranger to the planning process.
Their bitter row was heard at Aberdeen Town House before the city planning committee ordered it had to be removed.
Mr Spearritt has vowed to take his fight to keep it to the Scottish Government.
Perhaps spooked by this latest looming legal challenge, council chiefs delayed The P&J from publishing this article.
The newspaper was forced to resort to filing a freedom of information request to obtain planner Roy Brown’s slideshow, which showed images of the allegedly offensive shed.
When is a shed not a shed? When it’s a bar
Feathers were ruffled at Birchwood when neighbours saw the planning application, lodged by McWilliam Lippe Architects.
They wanted it made clear it was an “entertainment complex”, as Mr Spearritt’s downstairs neighbour would tell councillors directly.
Madina Kurmanbaeva, whose kitchen window is about six metres from the outhouse, said it had been central to a lot of social activity over the fine summer.
A bedroom window is a little further away.
She convinced councillors it was impacting on her family’s quality of life, later telling The P&J: “I am relieved the shed has to come down. It has been steady deterioration of my amenity, bit by bit.
“The trouble is it’s so close to us, with people walking by.
“I am not against the shed bar but it is having such an impact, causing distress to the downstairs residents.”
Cults shed is ‘more akin to duck shooting gallery’
Her neighbours were more damning.
McWilliam Lippe’s description of the building as a “shed” was said to be a “measure of contempt” for Mr Spearritt’s co-residents and the council by resident Andrew Minellas.
Another, Stuart Hicks, moaned that it was “more akin to a fairground duck shooting gallery”.
What do you think? Would you like a bar six metres from your kitchen window? Let us know in the comments below.
He complained it had “lots of permanently installed, gaudy, flashing, neon lights that would be the envy of the promenade at Blackpool”.
Objectors complained that a Google of “shed bar” would bring up images of the exact same construction.
‘Patent nonsense’ developer wouldn’t know he needed planning permission
Another gripe by objectors, four living in flats at Birchwood, is the reason for planning permission being sought after the shed was built.
Neighbour Joyce McFarlane claims the assertion Mr Spearritt wouldn’t have known he needed permission were “laughable”.
She added: “He is a property developer and most certainly knows the ropes where planning requirements are concerned.”
Neighbour Mr Hicks said the apparent ignorance “must have caused a great deal of mirth” for city planners, after Mr Spearitt’s “numerous applications” in the area.
‘If there was a lawnmower in this Cults shed, would there be objections?’
Scars from those neighbourly wars look still open, with this shed dispute just the latest battlefront.
Neighbours argue this is the latest unsanctioned development in the garden, which includes Mr Spearritt’s three stabs at getting a paved parking area permitted retrospectively too.
But the upstairs resident says each household has their own patch of garden and he was entitled to fence it off.
And he vowed to fight to keep the shed standing, as councillors had gone against their planning experts’ opinion in ordering it to come down.
What did councillors debate?
Planner Roy Brown made clear that the use of the shed was not to be considered as part of the application. That would be an environmental health issue, it was said.
Ahead of the vote which he lost 10-3, SNP councillor Neil Copland summarised: “If they were keeping a lawnmower or their garden tools in there, would there be any objections? No.
“It’s the use that we are objecting to, not the shed in this location.
“It’s simply how it’s being used that we object to – and that’s not a planning consideration.”
‘Absolutely vindictive’ campaign against plans
Mr Spearritt, who has made Birchwood his family home, claims the anti-shed campaign was an “absolutely vindictive play by a community of neighbours that don’t want us living here”.
“Complaints from neighbours that we stare in her windows are a complete fabrication,” he added.
The exasperated dad tells The P&J: “This will be a complete waste of the council’s limited budget, and the Scottish Government’s, as this will have to go to appeal.
“This was recommended to be approved as a shed, which could be used to store garden equipment – it still could be one day.
“The council hasn’t got this money to spend on planning appeals.
“The shed will not be coming down. An appeal will be lodged in due course.”
Conversation