Tuesday May 7th 2024
A doctor has told of her horror after discovering her neighbours had installed a CCTV camera outside her bathroom window.
East Lothian Council’s planning committee heard from the doctor that the first she knew of her neighbour’s newly installed cameras was when she stepped into her garden and heard an alarm announce ‘you are being recorded’.
And she said she had been unable to use her downstairs bathroom since spotting one of the cameras in its mirror, adding that on one occasion she forgot and went into the room only to instantly trigger a sensor light which shone in on her.
The committee was asked to approve retrospective plans for four Ring CCTV cameras and 10 outdoor lights at a semi-detached property on Gullane’s Hummel Road.
However they heard from the doctor, who lives in the adjoining property, a plea to refuse two of the cameras – one covering her back garden and the other her bathroom.
She told the committee she realised there was one outside her bathroom when she went for a shower in it.
She said: “At that point, to my absolute horror, I realised a CCTV camera had been installed on the wall directly outside my bathroom, clearly reflected on the wall mirror facing the shower, and I am even more horrified to say the toilet.
“I cannot begin to tell you the emotional distress this has caused, namely of who has seen this footage of myself in intimate part of my home, where it may have been shared and whether or not the footage has even been deleted.”
Earlier the committee heard from the applicant that the only purpose of the CCTV camera and lights was to protect their property and surrounding area.
And they were told the cameras had a ‘curtain’ effect which blocked them from looking into their neighbour’s property.
She said: “In recent months there has been an increased rate in house break ins across East Lothian. The property opposite us was broken into only a few months ago.
“This is supported by a recent letter sent to Gullane residents by police and the local MP encouraging the use of CCTV.”
She said in relation to the objection that the cameras were no more intrusive than looking from windows or doors into the neighbouring property adding the issue of CCTV was not a planning one.
However local ward councillor Jeremy Findlay, who called in the application after planning officers recommended it for approval, said he had concerns about the camera outside the bathroom and urged fellow members to back a motion refusing permission for it.
The committee agreed to approve permission for the cameras and lights with the exception of the one outside the bathroom which it ordered be removed.
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