A new summerhouse is set to be built in the grounds of the historic Hermand House near West Calder, after plans were approved on appeal.
West Lothian council’s Local Review Body overturned the refusal of Donna Paton’s application to put up a summerhouse and agricultural store in part of the paddock to the front of the B-listed house.
The Georgian mansion is listed for historical reasons. It was built in 1799 by George Fergusson, a Court of Session judge who took the title Lord Hermand. By the Victorian age the house had the estate became industrialised with brickworks, quarries, and a mineral railway line.
James Thornton, one of the former owners of the house, had Hermand Oil Co. Ltd.
Owned by Midlothian County Council when it was listed in 1971, it was destroyed by fire in 1979.
Restored from a shell to include flatted properties, other new properties have been built on what was the estate, and outbuildings also converted to homes.
Mrs Paton keeps chickens and pigs on an open paddock to the front of Hermand House. The site for the summerhouse is out of direct view of the house and the open frontage of the house would not be affected by the development.
Planners acknowledged that the store proposed alongside the summerhouse was primarily to store animal feed rather than agricultural machinery.
Mrs Paton, in her appeal, cited larger summerhouses existing in the gardens of large country houses across Scotland alongside pointing to the development that had already taken place on the wider estate.
In her submission to the LRB Mrs Paton said: “The development of the estate has been dramatic from the Laird/Judge big house with stables, gatehouse to industrial zone supporting a selection of industries and workers, then to a residential area, where isolated and sporadic residential developments have been granted planning permission.
"Even the great planning 'get out of jail free card' of every application on its own merits in the context of a non‐residential summer house and agricultural store against large residential properties looks very unsound.
"Given the scale and design nature of the residential developments in Hermand Estate which creates a precedent, a non‐residential agricultural shed and summerhouse should never have been deemed unacceptable, especially in this country house location where residential development within the curtilage of Hermand House was adopted by WLC in 1981.”
Mrs Paton countered Development Management claims that the proposals constituted building in open countryside: “Hermand House is private domestic house with an area set aside for each flat to enjoy and the term countryside is very loosely applied to sectioned off area of land, referred to as a paddock within the estate which has sporadic large modern houses and a range of businesses operating from the location. The paddock is far from open countryside, but a contained area for family use and a summerhouse is a most appropriate building to be located there.”
She concluded: “This was to give the children a play area and when they were older change this area to a herb garden and wild flowers. Also an area where the family could work together growing their own veg, raising their own animals for meat, collecting their own chickens eggs etc and become more self‐sufficient.”
There were no objections from neighbours on the estate, nor from council departments.
Councillor Pauline Clark said it had been another application which had benefited from a site visit. I was glad there was a site visit for this. I think the proposed buildings are significantly further away from the main building There’s obviously agricultural type activity going on within an agricultural setting.
“I can’t see why we would need to object to this. As for the summer house, again this is something people have in their gardens. l I‘d be inclined to support this application. It’s a rural location and an agricultural building would be acceptable.”
It was seconded by Councillor David Tait.
Planning officials had suggested conditions could be attached to the granting of permission including that the buildings would not be used for commercial purposes.
