Pink door woman faces new Edinburgh council colour complaint

An Edinburgh woman who was ordered to repaint her pink door is facing a new council investigation over its latest colour.

Miranda Dickson, 48, recently painted her door in the New Town "an off-white" after a previous green makeover was rejected by planners.

But Edinburgh Council has now received a fresh complaint that the door is back to pink.

Last year Ms Dickson faced a £20,000 fine if she did not change the colour.

Ms Dickson told BBC Scotland she was stunned by the latest development.

She said: "I am speechless that someone has complained about this colour as far as I was concerned this chapter in my life was closed.

"I'm shocked and distraught about it. It is definitely not the same colour as it was originally painted - it's an off-white.

"I feel bullied and that it has now become personal."

Ms Dickson first received an enforcement notice last year which said her pink door did not meet the standards of a house in the World Heritage Site.

It stated she must repaint it to its original colour of white or apply for planning permission.

After an appeal failed she applied for planning permission to paint it green.

In April, before she received the outcome of her application, she painted the door green because she was near the fine deadline if it remained pink.

Last week planners rejected the green colour so she painted it an "off-white" and applied again for retrospective planning permission.

But in a fresh twist the council said it had received a new complaint that the door was again pink.

Ms Dickson has previously said she was confused why she was being issued an enforcement notice when there were many other brightly coloured doors in the area.

But the council said it could only act where it had received a complaint.

Ms Dickson had spent 18 months renovating her childhood home in Drummond Place after her parents died.

The mother-of-two, who is a brand director in the drinks industry, moved back to Edinburgh two years ago after working in the US for nine years.

She had been told that she had until 7 January to change the colour of her front door after a complaint led to a council enforcement notice, which she appealed.

Ms Dickson said she had looked up the council's guidelines online before she painted the door.

She said that when she first received a warning letter from the council last year, she asked which colours would be allowed.

The chief planning officer wrote back telling her to "stick to traditional colours" like dark red, dark grey, sage green, dark blue or black.

But then she received a council enforcement letter in October telling her to paint her door white.

"It's not like my door is in a bad condition," she said.

"It costs a lot of money to have the front door painted because they are very large. It's not a quick job.

"The council needs to act with more clarity over paint colour."

A City of Edinburgh Council spokeswoman said: "We have received a complaint alleging that the door has been repainted pink. We're currently looking into this and so can't say more at this time."

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