Thursday June 19th 2025
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A last chance appeal by a gran to turn a former bank into a dream home has been cancelled at the 11th hour over an administrative error.
Pat Sharp has been fighting to have the former hall, in North Berwick, turned into a retirement home for her and her husband Nigel for eight years after buying it for more than double the asking price.
However East Lothian Council’s planners have repeatedly rejected applications for the change of use insisting the building has to remain a commercial building in the seaside town centre.
Last week Mrs Sharp spoke out publicly for the first time about her fight and heartbreak that her husband, who has Parkinson’s Disease, is no longer able to move in.
And she said she had no idea what would happen if her latest attempt get permission to convert the building into a house failed at the Local Review Body meeting, scheduled to take place this morning.
She said: “If this fails I don’t know what we will do. I spend £100 a month maintaining the gardens of the property and we have invested a lot to maintain and bring the hall itself into a maintained state but I can’t go on with it forever.”
Mrs Sharp and her husband bought the former bank hall seven years ago for £555,555 with the hope of retiring to the town.
The couple had precious memories of time with their granddaughters at the seaside resort after losing their daughter Cheryl to cancer when the girls were very young.
Former managing director Nigel, 78, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s following his retirement and the hope had been that the house would give him the chance to live in an adapted home in the place they loved.
Sadly Nigel is now in full time care and will never be able to live in the house, if it is every approved.
Pat said: “Nigel has been robbed of the chance to spend his final years in what we wanted to be our dream home, looking out over the North Berwick coast and remembering all our wonderful times here. it is devastating.”
The Local Review Body was due to meeting this morning to hear the appeal against the latest decision by planners to refuse permission for the change of use of the hall.
However late yesterday the council confirmed the meeting had been delayed and would now be held once elected members return from their summer holidays.
A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “One of the interested parties was accidentally omitted from our notification process so was not informed of the appeal in time for it to be heard at the Local Review Body meeting on Thursday 19 June. It will be heard at the next available meeting in August. The applicant’s agent, interested parties and consultees have all been contacted.”
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