A COUPLE from Switzerland have had their plans to build a home in St Boswells thwarted by the council’s local review body.

Richard and Allison Thomas, who gave their address as Chemins Des Perrailles, in the picturesque town of Perroy, Switzerland, want to build a home near Maxton House, St Boswells.

A planning statement, submitted by Edinburgh-based Liston Architects, reads: “The site fits well into the pattern of the group of houses between St Boswells and Maxton village and is well suited for development.

“Using traditional materials and contemporary architectural forms, the new house will be well-adapted to its site and sensitively designed to enhance the place.”

The application was for planning in principle, so no confirmed building plans were submitted, but the indicative plans still attracted ten objections, with nearby residents complaining about the state of the road, access to a cemetery close-by, poor visibility at the access to the site, and the scale and design of the indicative house plans.

The plans were subsequently refused by council planners, but the Thomases appealed to Scottish Borders Council’s local review body, where councillors were asked to deliberate on the proposals.

At a meeting of the local review body on Monday December 16, councillors were urged to refuse the appeal by planning officers.

In a statement to the committee, planning officer Julie Hayward wrote: “It is considered that the site is not a logical addition to the building group, with no relationship with the public road and divorced from the existing housing, outwith that sense of place.

“In addition, the proposal would break into a previously undeveloped field and its location would not respect the spacing between existing properties within the building group.

“There is no economic or agricultural justification for a dwellinghouse on this site, which is within the area designated as ‘countryside around towns’.

“The proposal is therefore contrary to policies HD2 and EP6 of the Local Development Plan 2016.”

The committee largely disagreed with the planning officer’s opinion that the building is outwith the building group, with councillors pointing out how close the proposed building would be to other, similarly distanced houses.

However, councillors generally felt the loss of an undeveloped green field did not outweigh this argument.

East Berwickshire councillor Helen Laing said: “There doesn’t appear to be much of a distance from the other houses, and so in terms of the building group argument I can see how that could be considered to be part of the building group.

“I’m more worried about the field, as it’s moving into an undeveloped green field.

“I’m concerned about the open field and the building not really relating to the sense of place.

“I’m a little bit torn but I’m leaning towards agreeing with the officers because I don’t feel it fits well with the other houses and the surrounding fields.”

Hawick and Denholm councillor Clair Ramage agreed, saying: “The main issue for me is: is it within the building group?

“Although it’s near the houses they are breaking into an undeveloped field.”

Councillors agreed to side with the officers and refuse the application, by a vote of three to two.