‘She’d need BINOCULARS to see them in the shower!’ Neighbours hit back at woman who claims she is selling her £450,000 dream home because she can look into next-door’s bathroom from her kitchen window
- EXCLUSIVE: Neighbours say Pauline Boyd ‘just upset she’s lost stunning view’
- Ms Boyd claimed she is selling £450,000 home because neighbours too close
- But neighbours say Blair Drummond house is around 50m from the new build
- One villager claimed she would ‘need binoculars to see next door showering’
The neighbours of a woman who said she is selling her £450,000 dream home because the people next door built their house too close to hers today alleged she is just upset the new property is blocking her view.
Pauline Boyd claimed this week she has been forced to sell her home on Rossburn Lane in Blair Drummond, Stirling after another property was built so close that she could see her neighbour showering from her kitchen.
But those who live in the picturesque Scottish locale have reacted in astonishment, speculating that Ms Boyd’s house is so far away from her neighbour at 50m that she would need binoculars to see into their bathroom.
Speaking to MailOnline, they said they believe the actual cause of Ms Boyd’s fury is that that the new build next door blocks part of her view of the stunning countryside close to Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
They pointed out that the whole estate contains just 10 properties spread across nearly a kilometre of land and each has around an acre plot of land to themselves.
B&Q worker Euan Fotheringham, 18, said: ‘She says she can see people showering through one of the windows in the shed across the road from her.
‘But the window’s fogged out so you can’t see through it and she may need a pair of binoculars too because it’s a fair distance away.
Pauline Boyd claimed she is selling her £450,000 dream home on Rossburn Lane in Blair Drummond, Stirling after another property (top left) was built so close that she could see her neighbour showering from her kitchen. Her house cannot be seen in this photo
Those who live in the picturesque Scottish locale have reacted in astonishment, and have said Ms Boyd’s house Greylag (top) is so far away from her neighbour (bottom right) at around 50m that she would need binoculars to see them showering
The exterior of Greylag in Blair Drummond, Stirling, as listed online in mid-2018
‘It may be close compared to other houses nearby but all the houses have an acre each and people in the city would say that is a lot. I’d say it is a lot to be fair even if she doesn’t think so.’
Emily Hall, who has lived at the old school at the end of Rossburn Lane for over 20 years, said: ‘I think what’s happened is it has been distant housing historically.
‘Then there was one new house built then another one and another one. Now there are two houses relatively close by and another two further away and another one in-between. Now there are 10 houses within 1km and they are all big houses.
‘Compared to what was there [when Ms Boyd moved in] they are on top of each other, but it is relative to where you are.’
The Outdoor Activities instructor added: ‘If you were in a town you’d be used to it. Out here it has become more crowded in that locale in a short time.
‘It’s just a beautiful location especially when it is good weather.’
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named but who lives very close to Ms Boyd, told MailOnline: ‘Listen, the houses are on acre plots.
‘I don’t know how there could be a problem. It’s bonkers.
B&Q worker Euan Fotheringham said: ‘She says she can see people showering through one of the windows in the shed across the road from her. But the window’s fogged out so you can’t see through it and she may need a pair of binoculars too because it’s a fair distance away’
The living room of Greylag in Blair Drummond, Stirling, as featured online
‘I think the real reason is that the new house is blocking her view. The views here are lovely so you wouldn’t want to lose that. It’s the only explanation.
‘My wife and I had done with city life and came out here wanting a quiet life. We didn’t expert this fuss. Her complaint has gone viral and everybody in the neighbourhood is talking about it.
‘Folk have been chapping my door about it.’
Ms Boyd, who said she bought Greylag for peace and tranquility, says the other house has been built so close to hers it looks directly into her rooms.
She also blasted council planning chiefs after they did not send her a letter informing her of the details of the planning application so she couldn’t properly object before it was built.
Stirling Council was forced to apologise after an investigation revealed that the employee responsible for sending the letter had been distracted by a phone call.
Ms Boyd previously said: ‘When we first got here, it was quite rural and while we had neighbours, they weren’t really in your face.
‘We had moved up to Turriff in Aberdeenshire but I was missing family so much that I was down every six weeks so we decided to get a base down here and I had always wanted to stay near Stirling Castle so it seemed like the perfect spot.
‘In January 2019, the owner decided to sell a bit of his land near us and the property that is there now has a garage that looks right into where we eat.
‘There is also a shower room in the property and so we can see people through there while we’re eating our dinner, even though the windows are frosted.
Ms Boyd kitchen, as pictured when the house was listed on the market in mid-2018
‘It’s got to the stage that our stress levels are really bad and really impacted our lives – we’re having to keep our shutters closed but we don’t want to be doing that.’
Following an initial planning application for the property submitted in March 2019, a second application including the details of the plans was submitted for approval in September that year. This led to Ms Boyd submitting a complaint and a council probe launched into the circumstances of the mix-up.
In a letter sent to Ms Boyd in January this year, Stirling Council’s planning and building standards manager Christina Cox said: ‘I have looked into how this error arose and hope that the following provides some explanation.
‘The Gateway team within the planning service undertake neighbour notification of all planning applications.
‘In this instance, the officer correctly identified your property to be neighbour notified, however, the letter was not printed for issue.
‘It is likely that the officer was distracted by taking a telephone call midway through the task and did not complete the printing of the letter to issue to you.’
Ms Boyd says she has been left angry by the handling of her case and has placed her house on the market due to the loss of privacy.
She added: ‘It has been a nightmare with Stirling Council and it has been so badly mishandled in general.
‘The systems are in place but they just don’t appear to be working because if we had known about this garage going up, we would have built a fortress or a stronger fence.
‘We’re looking for a new place to live because this property is impacting our lives – we moved here for rural living but we feel like fish in a bowl and we can’t even sit in our garden because we’re looking directly on to this garage near the road.
‘It’s a shame that we’re having to sell because we’ve done a lot of work on the house.’
In response, a Stirling Council spokesperson said that Ms Boyd’s objections to the property were properly considered in the first application and said her property was three times the minimum privacy distance from her neighbour.
The spokesperson acknowledged that Ms Boyd should have had the opportunity to comment on the second application, but added that the complaints process had now been exhausted, with a letter posted for options to take things further if she wished.
They added: ‘The council has apologised in writing to Mrs Boyd regarding this matter and her complaints have been fully investigated.
‘Further quality assurance processes have been put in place to ensure this error is not repeated.’
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