While carrying out property development of a historic listed building in Aberdeen, Stewart Property Services Ltd carried out unauthorised internal work to the property, making changes that planning permission had not been granted to cover. The unauthorised work consisted of creating 15 bedrooms in the property which had been approved to consist of 9 bedrooms, with the remaining space being used for resident meeting space, games rooms and seating areas.
The affected space contained two examples of fine plaster ceilings dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, which were considered to be among the best examples of decorative plasterwork that have survived to be seen today. An historic buildings inspector who visited the property in 2007 had commented at the time that although there were ‘grander, more elaborate’ examples than the ceilings that could be seen in the Victoria Court property in public buildings in the city such as theatres, they were not as old, and it was also noted that the plasterwork ceilings of the listed building were in good condition.
When the planners questioned about the unauthorised work, the developer advised that as renovation work had progressed, problems with dry and wet rot had been discovered which would have resulted in a large amount of repair work which would have been costly. The developer also tried to justify the change to 15 bedrooms rather than the original approved 9 bedrooms that he was requesting retrospective planning permission for by advising that it was “financially imperative” for his company to allow the change to the original permission.