A Dingwall man will discover next week whether he will have to tear down his large garden deck because of a planning dispute.
Members of Highland Council’s north planning committee will visit Gordon Christie’s home in Mountrich Place to decide on the wooden structure’s future.
Mr Christie has been forced to apply for retrospective permission for the 78ft long deck because of its height overlooking a house site.
Councillors were due to visit the site in December but this was postponed due to bad weather.
The council’s north planning manager Dafydd Jones has recommended that the application is refused because of the impact on the neighbouring site.
Mr Christie made his belated application after the owner of land directly below the decking raised an objection about the “intrusive nature” of the garden development.
Planning permission has been granted for a house on the overlooked site, although it is currently undeveloped.
Mr Christie said he mistakenly looked at UK, rather than Scottish, planning guidelines for decking, and claimed the contractor which erected the decking said that planning approval would not be needed.
Mr Christie, a drilling supervisor in the oil industry, said: “If I had known I needed planning I would have applied for it at the time and the decking would not have been built.”
The site visit was called by Dingwall member Councillor Margaret Paterson who called Mr Christie’s position was a “genuine mistake”.
She added: “Everything there is built on a steep slope so all of the houses are overlooked by the house up the hill because of the lie of the land. The best and fairest way would be to go and have a look and get a real feel for the area.”
Committee members will visit the site on Monday morning before convening to make their decision on Tuesday at council headquarters.
