A mom got a ridiculous fine after painting her own house.
Miranda Dickson, 48, a kind and spunky mother who owns the Georgian house in Edinburgh’s New Town. Apparently, Dickson violated council rules that are “thirty years out of date” by painting her front door a loud color. She painted the front door of her home the color pink. And after that, the mom was then facing a massive fine, because the city does not approve of her newly painted front door.
Her fine? Dickson faces a fine of up to $23,000.
Dickson feels that the rule is out of date. And should be updated to reflect the climate of the modern world as she was forbidden from painting her front door color like pink because Dickson lives in New Town, which is classified as a World Heritage Conservation Site.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s city planner had suggested that Dickson have her door colored with a white gloss to make it match the other homes in the area, as they have rejected the color of the door that Dickson has selected. They are now insisting that she get it repainted to a more conservative color. Dickson who inherited the Scottish home from her parents in 2019 has recently completed the new renovation of her home, including a new paint job for the front door by a professional company.
Dickson asserts that other residences on her street of Drummond Place have vibrantly colored doors despite the city planners’ request for her to modify the color of her entrance. She believes she should be entitled to have a pink door because they are present on other residences in the neighborhood.
In other British cities with colorful homes like Notting Hill in London, Dickson compared her part of town. Bristol was an example of a town that had the same type of design as her home, she also suggested.
“There are cities in the UK like Bristol, Notting Hill, and Harrogate which are brightly colored. Coming home and seeing my front door gives me joy, I’m proud of it. It’s my house, I own it. It’s not like I wanted to build a glass box. Georgians loved pink – in that era, all the windows were painted grey or black, and people had different-colored front doors. I’ve had overwhelming support from people saying ‘it’s amazing, and ‘it makes me smile,” she said.
Many people snap photos of her new pink door as they travel through the touristy part of town and because it has become so popular, Dickson’s pink door has its own Instagram page.
The pink color of her door, however, is “unauthorized,” to the city planner and if Dickson does not have the paint altered to a white gloss, the city planners threaten to punish her with roughly $2,300. And if her paintwork is deemed to be a violation of the local conservation laws, she might be assessed a fine of up to $23,000.
“I don’t want to paint it white, I’ll paint it dark red. People are saying ‘why don’t you paint it a rainbow of muted colors,” she said.
Sources: AWM, Mirror, Somersetlive
